Bringing Back Jack
by BatPhace
Summary: Epilogue up! Jack stayed in New Mecca, but what will happen when someone comes back from the dead and takes her away?
1. Bad News, Worse News

So this is my first ever Riddick fic, and I need to know if I should keep going or what so PLEASE REVIEW! Please please please with cherries and cool whip on top! This is set after PB as if Jack stayed in New Mecca with Imam and actually led a halfway normal life for once. Rated M for language and stuff that'll be in later chapters -wink wink-

Disclaimer: I think if I owned PB or TCOR I wouldn't be here playing with them, now would I?

Chapter 1: Bad News, Worse News

"Riddick!" Jack shot up in her bed. She searched frantically, not comprehending her surroundings for a moment. When she finally got her bearings she sighed in relief as she was still in New Mecca, still among friends, and still safe. She couldn't remember all of it, just the end where Riddick had… she shook her head. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and tried to shake echoes of panic she still felt. She walked shakily to the bathroom and stared at her reflection in the small mirror on the wall.

It had been five years almost to the day since Riddick had left her in Imam's care in New Mecca. She hadn't understood at the time why he left, but gradually she'd come to realize he really had done it for her own good. She understood, but she never really forgave. He'd promised her he would come back for her someday when he could ensure her safety. She had thought of him as an older brother then, she hoped when he did come back, maybe, just maybe they could be something…else.

She'd thought about leaving, but decided she liked it there. They had been good years since, compared to her years before the eclipsed planet, full of serenity and joy. She had learned the peaceful ways of Imam and his family. Aziz thought of her as Auntie Jack and Imam and his wife thought of her as a daughter. She enjoyed her time with them, it was the closest thing to a real family she'd ever had. But something was still missing. There was still an animal in her, tightly restrained, but there nonetheless. Something Riddick had shown her, the only piece she had left. Every once in a very long while she would let it out. She would run for a night, free to do whatever she pleased. It was her coping mechanisim. She got Imam's stern look of disapproval in the morning, but it was worth it. He understood why she did it, but he still worried for her. "One so young shouldn't be out alone at night, even in New Mecca."

She splashed cold water over her face and went downstairs where Imam sat at the table with the newspaper lying in front of him. Jack noticed the look on his face was stark and anxious. She sat across from him.

"What's the matter, Imam?" she asked, concerned. She had never seen a look like this cross his wise face. Imam said nothing, only looked away and slid the paper across the table to her. Perplexed she looked at the front page. The orange she had begun peeling fell from her hand as she read the headline.

"_Infamous Escaped Murderer Dies in Collision"_

No, it couldn't be. Not him. Anyone but him. She read the first couple of lines of the article frantically and tears welled in her eyes.

"_Infamous murderer and escaped convict Richard Riddick died late last night when the mercenary ship he was being transported in collided with another vessel. No survivors have been-" _There was more, but she didn't bother. She read the first line over and over, praying that somehow she was reading it wrong.

"Jack-" Imam started but she cut him off.

"It's not true. It can't be true. They fucked up somehow. IT'S NOT TRUE! NOT HIM! NO!" Imam quickly went around the table and held her as a father would a distraught daughter. "NO NO NO NO NO!" She wrenched away from him and ran screaming to her room.

* * *

Some time later when the shattering and crashing had ceased for a while Imam braved knocking on Jack's door. He'd heard nothing, so he took it as a 'come in'. He entered the room slowly so he could duck anything thrown at him. What he found was a miserable sight. Jack lay face up on her bed, exhausted and surrounded by fragments of a lamp, several picture frames, and bits of debris from various other objects that had felt her wrath. In fact, he noticed, there was almost nothing in the little room that was in one piece. There was blood smeared on her skin and bed sheets from cuts she had sustained in her enraged hysteria. Blood was also dripping slowly from her hand; there was something gripped in it, but Imam couldn't tell what it was. He went to her bed and sat lightly on the corner waiting for her to speak, he almost thought she was asleep, but he knew better. It took a few moments, but finally she did. 

"He was supposed to come back for me," her voice was harsh and ragged from her crying, "It's the only reason I stayed here, was so he could find me." Her words stung Imam just a little.

"Allah has-" he began to comfort, but she cut him off.

"Don't!" she sat up with daggers coming from her eyes, "I know you're trying to help, but don't." He placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Shush, I was going to say, Allah has a plan for us all. Riddick knew what he was doing when he left you here; he wanted to avoid you being with him if something should ever happen to him. He wanted you to be safe." She looked down not wanting Imam to see her cry anymore. She knew he was right, but she was still bitter about it.

"Come, let me clean you up." He took her hand and led her to the bathroom where he washed and dressed all her little (and not so little) cuts and scrapes. Finally he came to her hand.

"You must let me dress your hand as well," he said in a kind but stern tone. She looked up at him as is she had awoken from some sort of trance, like she didn't know what he was saying for a moment. She opened her hand where a necklace lie, soaked in blood. It was a tooth of some sort, tied with a bit of cord.

"What is that?" Imam asked cautiously.

"He dug it out of his boot leather after we left the planet," at first Imam didn't understand, and then the light dawned. THE planet. It was a tooth from one of those… monsters. She continued, "He gave it to me before he left, said it would keep me strong, keep me from forgetting I'm a survivor, no matter what." She stared at the necklace on the bathroom counter as Imam bandaged her hand. She could feel something changing in her, dying and fading away.

* * *

Almost six months had passed since she had read the headline that broke her heart and soul. Imam wondered if she were ever going to be "normal" again. They fought more now, and she left for days at a time instead of just nights once in a while. She would come back with wounds sometimes. Imam would clean her up, but he couldn't make her talk. She scared him and his family sometimes, but he couldn't bring himself to cast her out. She was dark, letting her anger and resentment control her. She wasn't Jack anymore; Jack died the night she found out about Riddick. Jack was a weak willed little girl. She shed Jack like a snake sheds its skin. She was Kyra now.

* * *

He'd been watching the day she got the news about him. He saw her self destruct, watched as her rage split her in two then sewed her back together as a different person. He'd been watching her back ever since. He wondered how she could have NOT noticed. What, she thought a seventeen year old girl could just run rampant for days at a time without someone wanting to fuck with her? Especially one so fine. Sure she had skills, but they weren't that good. She'd grown up a lot since the last time he'd seen her, that was for damn sure. He'd beaten the senses out of several would-be attackers without so much as a 'fuck you very much' from her direction. That would have to change. This shit was not why he'd left her in New Mecca. He wanted her to do something with her life, and she had a chance to do it here. He watched her sleeping off her previous nights exploits from a rooftop across the street. 'Time to come back from the dead' he thought with a snarl.

* * *

Kyra woke with a start from the same nightmare she'd been having since… that day. She slept as little as possible anymore, and did as many self-destructive things as she could handle at once to try and forget about them. Her nightmares haunted her, like a kick in the gut over and over again every time she slept. It was morning anyhow, not as late as she was used to getting up, but she didn't care. She was awake now, might as well stay that way. She didn't care about much anymore. Why should she? Why did it matter? She would've killed herself, but she didn't have the balls to do it. So she went out and killed herself a little at a time every night. She got up and washed her face and headed downstairs to grab a bite to eat before running out again. 

The first thing she noticed was that the house was unusually dark. Imam liked natural light, so he habitually opened the shutters every morning to let the light in. They were shut today for some reason. She heard Imam's voice in the parlor and went to ask him what was with the shutters.

"Hey Imam, what's with the dark?" She was perplexed as he only looked at her with a half grin… and then she heard it. The voice she hadn't heard in almost six years. The voice that gave her chills from the time she was 12. The voice of a ghost, or so she'd thought.

"Look at you, Jack, all grown up. It's been a long time."

Riddick.


	2. Fighting Confusion

Wow, you like me, you really like me! YAY! Muchos gracias to everyone who has reviewed. I love opening my e-mail and finding review alerts, they make my day. I hope this chappy meets everyones expectations. Without further ado...

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue. It's not worth it anyway.

Chapter 2: Fighting Confusion

Kyra stayed frozen, afraid to turn and see those shined eyes staring at her and what she'd become. Or worse, the goggles in which she could see it for herself. She was only speechless for a moment.

"You're supposed to be dead, I saw the obit myself." She said the words as evenly as she could manage through clenched teeth. Her head was spinning. She steadied herself on the chair next to her for fear of falling over from disbelief. So many emotions were rushing through her all at once; anger, fear, hatred, joy … elation? The last two she pushed aside for now. She could feel him shift behind her, she didn't have to see or hear it to know he was leaning against the wall with that ever-smug look across his face.

"See that's the thing about being dead; if you never find the body, you never really know, now do you." His voice was coarser than she remembered and it sent shivers down her spine. A swift rage took her over and she spun around to face him simultaneously grabbing the shiv from its usual place at the small of her back and went for him. He effortlessly took the shiv from her and threw it to the ground. He took her arm, spun her and trapped her between it and himself. She'd thought of being pressed up against his solid body so many times before, but not like this.

"Some welcome," His breath brushed her ear as he whispered the words with ice in his tone. She looked up at the stairs and saw Aziz staring wide-eyed at the scene through two of the slats. She couldn't draw his blood in front of Aziz. Kyra twisted out of his grip growling and ready to fight if necessary, but the tears that swelled in her eyes made her run out the door into the crowded street. Imam went to go after her, but Riddick stopped him.

"Don't! Let her go, she's pissed for good reason. She'll come back." Imam was hard pressed not to follow her, but he knew Riddick was right. How long it would take her to return was another story, and he worried for her safety and that of whoever may cross her in the meantime.

* * *

'Fight of flight really blows,' she thought as she fled the house.

Kyra felt her secret animal take control as she ran through the streets, tears blinding her and rage and fear coursing through her every vein. She couldn't feel the rocks jabbing at her bare feet, or the still cold morning biting at her exposed skin as she hadn't the sense about her to change out of pajamas before running out. All she could do was run. She ran from her emotions, and she ran from Riddick and his intense eyes and sharp tongue and what she knew he would have to say about her behavior of late. Most of all she ran for the simple fact that she didn't know how she felt, she wasn't in control, and that scared her. She was infuriated to the same point as when she had found out he was "dead". Enraged so that she thought her blood would boil and make her explode, she needed something (or someone) to take the pressure off.

Imam had taught her that anger was something to be embraced and learned from. Her inner animal taught her anger was something that had to be released into the world around her. And so she prowled, looking for someone to take the brunt of her wrath. It couldn't be just anyone; she did have scruples, after all. With an overconfidence of one who didn't care about life or death she stalked the back alleys and fleapits of New Mecca looking for a candidate to take her pain.

* * *

Imam said his morning prayers, taking extra care to beseech Allah to keep watch over Kyra. Riddick watched him, slightly amused. He'd never taken much stock in prayer, never had any reason to. Afterward the two men sat to talk over a small breakfast of sweet breads and fruit. They wouldn't be disturbed as Imam's wife was a teacher and Aziz had gone to school for the day. They could speak freely without interruption.

"Why?" Imam spoke the question directly, hoping it wouldn't provoke the man across the table from him. He had seen for himself what could happen when Riddick was rubbed the wrong way. He thought on the question as he swallowed his bite of apple.

"Wanted the mercs off my back for a while. I need a break; I'm tired of running and hiding out on wasted planets," Riddick chuckled softly, it would have sounded like a growl to the untrained ear, "Thought I'd come for a visit." Imam seemed satisfied; he certainly didn't want to push the issue.

"In truth, I had wondered if the papers were true," Imam began calmly setting his tea on the table "Allah has always seemed to have better things in mind for you." Imam smiled a small knowing smile.

"You were smart to keep your thoughts to yourself, holy man. She was better off not knowing." His tone was gruff, but Imam knew he meant nothing by it. Imam nodded.

"I thought telling her what I thought may be true would only make it harder if it turned out you really were gone. It-" Imam stopped, thinking better of it. There was a moment of silence between them.

"Spit it out, holy man," Riddick watched him with cool eyes as Imam fumbled with his words. Slowly he spoke his thoughts.

"It crushed her spirit to read that you were dead. I watched in anguish as the girl Jack withered away. Her warmth and her light were gone in mere days." Riddick noted that Imam seemed deeply, earnestly saddened by this, "How quickly she was replaced by this cold, distant woman, Kyra." Imam's words struck a chord in Riddick. He too had watched from afar as Jack died and Kyra was born from her ashes. He had hoped it was just a phase, but it was becoming far too permanent for his liking. Imam continued.

"My family is afraid of her now when we used to consider her another daughter. She used to read stories and play with my Aziz. My wife thinks I should cast her out for fear of what she will bring upon our house, but I cannot just turn my back and become another that has betrayed her." Riddick's eyes shot up. That one hit home.

"I did NOT betray her!" Riddick rose from his seat and glared fiercely at Imam, "I left her with you so that she could make something of herself here, because I knew it was too dangerous with me! I've got mercs on my neck! I'll always have mercs on my neck! It's only a matter of time before they figure out I fixed my own death and come after me again!" Imam was visibly flustered by his outburst.

"Settle, settle, please. I didn't necessarily mean you," Riddick sat back down, still bristled, "There have been countless others that have hurt her since she was small, but you took a piece of her when you left, whether you wanted it or not. This, you returning here, may be the straw that breaks her." Riddick thought on this for a minute.

"She's a survivor," he said quietly.

* * *

Kyra was exhausted when she finally returned home. 'Home,' she thought absently, 'I don't deserve a home after the way I've treated this one. I deserve a slam.' Her feet were torn and bleeding from the rocks and harsh ground. She didn't care. Her head throbbed, her muscles ached from the numerous fights she'd been in. She'd released her anger, but why did she still feel like killing someone? What was worse was she knew HE was still there. She could feel his presence inside the house, it was overwhelming but, still, she didn't care. She was too tired to run anymore. She stumbled inside and up the steps the bathroom to wash up, then to her little room where she collapsed onto her bed. She wasn't at all shocked to hear his voice from her doorway moments later.

"Long time no see, kid." 'That's nerve for ya,' she thought.

"I'm not a kid anymore, Riddick. Why couldn't you just-" she started to snap at him, but held her tongue.

"Any red blooded male could see that you're not a kid anymore. But go on ask it. Why couldn't I just stay dead?" he said it mockingly. Tears began welling in her eyes again. 'Oh no no no, done enough of that today.'

"Leave!" her voice barely sounded like her own, it was so harsh she almost didn't recognize it. Her throat hurt but somehow she'd managed to shout the word. There was silence for a moment.

"No," was the response from the door. She heard his steps coming closer to the bed. She sat up to protest but found herself speechless from the presence in front of her lit by the dim light of a few candles, since she'd never replaced the lamp she broke. She hadn't really gotten to look at him that morning. Not much had changed; he was still tall and well built. Still the same black getup, the goggles looked new though. And he still smelled like everything she'd ever imagined as male. She suddenly started trembling, not from anger, from something else. She hoped he wouldn't notice, but when he lifted his goggles the glow she saw reflected in his shined eyes told her that not only did he notice, he understood something she didn't. Her fury returned amplified by the confusion she felt.

"I thought you were dead," she whispered it at first, and then she yelled at him, "How could you do that to me! You son of a bitch, I thought you were dead! I thought you were dead! You BASTARD! I hate you! I HATE YOU!" She didn't bother fighting back the tears anymore. All her soreness disappeared into her frenzy and she hit at him taking out all her rage from the past five and a half years on the form in front of her. Finally she collapsed in a sobbing sniveling heap in front of him.

* * *

He wanted to yell back, berate her for the way she had treated Imam and his family after all they had given her. He wanted to shake her out of this shell of senselessness she had developed. He wanted to wrap his powerful arms around her and protect her from her demons. He wanted to kiss away her tears. Yet he couldn't bring himself to do anything but stand there and be her punching bag. Her eyes and her scent and her tears wouldn't let him.

'You puss, you're going soft!' he reprimanded himself.

'Only for her,' he defended inwardly.

'Bah! Puss is puss, next you're gunna be letting mercs off the hook.' He shook his head slightly to clear his thoughts. He'd known long ago that she would be his eternal weak spot. He'd never had one before, but he knew on that nightmare of a planet when he had gone back for her and Imam (mostly for her) that she was going to be his Achilles' heel for the rest of his natural life.

Her eyes had haunted him for five and a half years. Jumping from planet to planet, all he had held dear to him was the memory of her eyes. When he'd last seen them they were full of guts and spirit, the very core of youth. Now as he tilted her chin up to look into her eyes he saw infinite sadness there, and a depth and soul that only a woman's eyes could hold. He turned to leave.

"Get some sleep Ja…Kyra. We got a big day tomorrow."


	3. All Downhill From Here

WooHoo! Chapter 3! I'm on a roll! Thanx to everyone who has read my story and stuck with it so far. Double thanx to everone who reviews as well! PLEASE! I'm constantly self conscious about my writing so any feedback, good or bad, is welcome. I need to know things like is my Riddick believable, some stuff from the books would be good. Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: Y'all know the schpeel.

Chapter 3: All Downhill From Here

_Kyra tossed and turned in a restless sleep. Frenzied images flashed like a strobe through her mind. Passion, heat, and long restrained desires. Hands grabbing and pulling and groping with such intense need. Lips kissing all over her body as she writhed beneath his touches. Tiny intense moans, flesh melding with flesh. A growl, then a cry… "RIDDICK!"_

Kyra shot up in her bed sweating and completely blown away by the dream (No, nightmare. No, dream) that she'd just experienced. It had been so real. She could've sworn she felt him doing… things to her that she'd never EVER thought of. True she wasn't practiced at this in any form really (she'd only held an interest in one man, and there was no comparing anyone else to him as much as she hated to admit it) but she had fantasies like any normal almost eighteen-year-old girl. Never like that though. She was still trembling as echoed feeling washed over her.

"Oh good, you're awake," came an amused voice from the doorway. He could smell Kyra's pheromones spike all the way downstairs where he'd been laying awake and plotting against her. She'd been having some kind of good dream about someone. "Get dressed. We're going on a little trip." She was going to protest but he left before she had the chance. It wasn't even light outside, he couldn't be serious. She hunkered back down under her blankets and had almost drifted back off when his voice came like an air-raid siren.

"GET THAT ASS MOVING!" She jumped out of her skin and her covers, unconsciously grabbing for she shiv she kept on her at all times. He stood leaning slightly over her with a wide grin his face. "Go on, Kyra," he spit out the name like it left a foul taste in his mouth, "shiv me. I dare you."

"Goddammit Riddick, it's not even dawn yet! Gimme a break!" His expression suddenly fell and became completely sober and his tone turned dead serious. He got so close to her face she could feel his breath on her lips.

"You've been on a break since you thought I died, it's time to get back to work. And since I bought myself some time off from the bounty game I get to be your boss, understood!" She flinched a little, but nodded. Oh, he wasn't down for playing games today. The games were officially over. He backed off and turned to leave.

"Will you at least tell me what we're going to be doing at the ass-crack of dawn?" she asked getting up from her bed. He turned and stood silently looking her up and down for a moment with an appraising eye. She was wearing only panties and the short nightshirt she'd changed into before falling asleep the night before. Her boldness receded and she blushed a little, feeling like a horse on an auction block.

"Just be ready to go in ten," He left her alone to get ready and she did what she was told, grumbling the whole time. 'Ten my ass,' she thought, suddenly feeling childish.

* * *

Eleven minutes later she appeared downstairs, dressed in all black, hair tied up in her usual ponytail with raccoon circles under her eyes. She hadn't been up this early in a long, long time. When she saw this time of the night/morning it usually meant she hadn't been to bed yet. Even Imam didn't get up this early. 

"I said be ready in ten," he growled as she entered the kitchen.

"Bite me," she retorted, instantly regretting it as she considered the fact that he just might.

"Hmm, if I thought you wouldn't like it I would. Say what were you dreaming about this morning?" He laughed at her as she blushed furiously at his remark. She could feel her anger rearing its ugly head.

"Not you, that's for damn sure!" 'Oooh you lie!' she thought. "I should kick your ass for that!" He grew serious again.

"I would love to see that but save it for now and eat, you're going to need your energy." She growled as he threw an apple at her. She caught it with one hand putting bruises on it from the force of her fingertips. Riddick quirked his eyebrows at her. He lowered his goggles, 'she's definitely got potential,' he thought to himself, 'yeah, potential.'

* * *

They left the house and hiked into the hills outside New Mecca. Riddick set a grueling pace but Kyra kept up without uttering a single complaint. She had to; she had something to prove both to herself and to him. He couldn't help but be a little impressed. Finally after what seemed like a whole days hike they reached a small plateau where they sat and ate lunch. 

"So this is what you hauled me up here for? A picnic?" She wasn't complaining, her stomach had been growling for close to two hours.

"No, but I can't work you out on an empty stomach, not yet anyway," he chewed a bite of bread. Kyra swallowed her bite of cheese hard.

"Work me out how?" she raised a quizzical eyebrow. Flashes from dream threatened to butt in but she suppressed them just in time.

"You need to work on your skills. They're definitely there, they just need to be refined. Plus you have anger management issues we need to work on." He smirked at the indignant look that briefly crossed her face. All Riddick got in response were a few choice words muttered under her breath.

* * *

Riddick had to lay low for obvious reasons, but they followed the same ritual strictly. Every morning they would hike to different places in the hills with different characteristics that would serve as a tool in Riddick's lessons. He showed her how to harness her anger and use it against her opponent. He showed her how to focus her will and bend the laws of physics in her favor while fighting. He taught her ways to deal with pain until she was certain that she could still walk even on a broken leg if she had to. He used different techniques to amplify her senses and sharpen her reaction time. The two were practically inseparable for months. 

'This is how it should have been,' Kyra found herself thinking more often than not. Her cynical side would then butt in, 'But that's not how it was, he left. Don't ever forget that.' She wanted to think that she was just using him for what he could teach her. Then when the time came she would shed him like she shed Jack. She knew better, but that was the plan and she would stick to it for now.

Riddick also tried to keep himself objective, but he knew it was a futile point. She was under his considerably thick skin. He found himself thinking about her not just as the pain-in-the-ass little sister he never had, but as an extension of his own soul. It scared him to think she was that close, no one had EVER been that close. He wasn't sure what to do with it.

Imam was just overjoyed that she was becoming even somewhat like her old self. She was still distant, but it was better now than it had been. At least now she didn't run the streets, she had somewhere to focus her anger and force. It lead him to wonder downheartedly how much longer it could last. It was like his mind was foreshadowing events to come, and he didn't at all like the feeling he got from it. But as always he kept his mouth shut about his thoughts and enjoyed the calm while it lasted.

* * *

Then one day the calm broke. 

They had been in the hills sparring for hours. It had stemmed from a gag comment Riddick had made about the size of Kyra's ass, and was now a full blown mock battle. They circled each other, breathing hard, senses at their peak. Kyra had blocked, turned, or squirmed her way out of every offense Riddick threw at her. In turn he had evaded her every attempt to pin him. Neither would give up.

"Don't you get it? You're not gunna win this old man." Kyra mocked.

"OLD MAN!" Ooh, that was low. Suddenly Riddick's attention perked away from the two of them and the hairs on the back of his neck stood at attention for the first time in months. He shushed her thinking he'd heard something.

"Yeah, that's what I-" she retorted but he shushed her again.

"Something isn't right," he whispered.

"That's not gunna work this time Riddick," she poked at him but the look on his face was grave, he wasn't playing anymore. She listened, training every nerve in her body to pick up on anything strange. He was right, something was off.

Riddick tackled her to the ground milliseconds before the bullets flew past them soundlessly piercing the ground a few feet in front of them and sending spires of dirt and grass into the air. They scrambled for cover and listened closely. They heard voices in the area around them.

"They went around that way," was one.

"Go go go…" that made two.

They heard at least three more sets of feet running softly toward them.

They were surrounded, weaponless, and completely off guard.

"Who the hell is that?" Kyra asked him quietly, her breath coming in short bursts.

"They found me." He looked her square in the eyes and found astonished panic there as realization dawned.

Mercs.

* * *

The mercs made a few mistakes that day. The first was not having hand signals for what they were going to do. It gave away their position, defeated the purpose of an ambush. They were amateurs. The second (and really the only one that mattered) was fucking up Richard Riddick's new peaceful life with the only people in the universe and beyond that he cared about. 

Kyra learned how to kill that day. And kill she did with the ferocity of a crazed and rabid wolf. Her performance was flawless. But those filthy vultures figured out he was alive, it was only a matter of timebefore he was back to being the most hunted man in theknown universe. Riddick made up his mind. He would have to run again. She could take care of Imam and his family without him now.

He packed a bag and headed for the next transport shuttle that would take him as far away from Helion Prime as he could get. Kyra chased him down the busy street.

"I'm coming with you," her voice was serious, but she had to be joking.

"No, it's too dangerous," he continued walking.

"I can handle myself, I'm coming." He whirled around and pinned her to the wall behind her. His lips briefly brushed the skin of her ear and that one simple touch made her tremble.

"I know you can handle yourself. It's too dangerous for me," his voice was low and harsh, "Do you know what I would do if one of those pieces of shit ever hurt you? I don't want that on my conscience." His words made her swallow hard. He backed away quickly and went back on his way. Desperately she screamed.

"You're not leaving me here again! GODDAMMIT I WON'T STAY HERE WITHOUT YOU!" He stopped and slowly turned to face her. All his anger melted away as he looked at her. Her stance was hostile, but her eyes were shimmering with pent tears. They were silently pleading with him. She really would crumble if he left her here again and he knew it. His best judgment left him as he turned back around and waited for her to catch up. This was going to be a mistake.


	4. Problems Arise

Hey everyone! Thank you ALL who review! You guys spurr me on and I love the input so keep it comming. Realism is of the utmost imprortance to me, so if my story gets unrealistic at any time PLEASE let me know so I can fix it. Constructive criticism is welcome! Tell me how I can make it better.

Disclaimer: Hibbity hoo blah! You know the drill.

* * *

They hopped the next shuttle off of Helion Prime, which happened to be heading to a planet called Tetreon Beta, a repugnant little backwater planet conveniently on the other side of the galaxy. Wretched as it was, it was one of the most populated planets in the known universe, which made it a good hiding spot. Nothing like hiding in plain sight. It took them close to a month to get there, they could've gotten there faster (two weeks faster, actually) on a direct transport but that would have required verifications and background checks and other such hassles that they couldn't threaten or bribe their way around. The ship they were on seemed to be on its last legs, but it was the lesser of two evils. They kept mostly to themselves, and traveling under assumptions of husband and wife kept the questions down. They heard whispers from some of the other passengers that they didn't act like any sort of husband and wife, but the right look of glaring eyes and wicked grins put that nonsense to rest. 

Their cabin also left something to be desired. There was one queen size bed that came down out of the wall, one small latrine, which was stuck in an undersized closet, but other than that it greatly resembled an eight-by-eight prison cell, something Riddick was not entirely comfortable with. He gave Kyra the bed, not that he felt he had much say in it, and took the floor to sleep every night. They spent quite a bit of time here, as the ship routinely went on 'lockdown' for some repair or another.

They said very little to each other during the course of their trip. There was tangible tension hanging between them like an iron curtain. Being in such close quarters without their daily battles was taking its toll as well. It was like the training sessions had been a pressure release valve in lieu of all the things they couldn't (or wouldn't) say to each other. Finally, one day in the last week of the trip, the tension broke. They sat in the cramped cabin on 'lockdown' and as usual they were bathed in stressed silence. Riddick was intently sharpening his knives for lack of anything better to do. Suddenly he stopped and Kyra could feel him staring at her. She ignored it.

"I'm sorry," he said it so quietly she almost hadn't caught it and it still took a moment for his words to register in her brain. She put down the lit screen she'd been reading; an ancient classic from the 21st century about the exploits of a boy and his friends in a school of magic. Very interesting, really.

"What?" she looked at him in awe. His eyebrows knitted up like it physically hurt him as the words escaped his lips. He hated repeating himself but he did so through clenched teeth.

"I said I'm sorry…for leaving. I did it for your own good but I never should have left you." Just then the light over the cabin door went from red to green to signal the end of the 'lockdown'. 'Not a moment to soon,' he thought rising hurriedly to leave the cabin. She stood and stepped between him and the door.

"Wait!" She said it sharper than she'd meant to but it made him stop. She didn't have to see his eyes behind the smoky specs to know that he wasn't happy she blocked his escape. "Do you really mean it?" She knew he did, but she wanted to hear it. He owed her that much at least. He growled and lifted his goggles so that she could see the conviction of the words in his shined eyes. He bent closer to her face.

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't, you know that," The tone of his voice was low, but not threatening as she'd expected. She suddenly felt the urge to kiss him, but she wasn't sure. She leaned in closer keeping her eyes on his. There was no change in his expression, so she went for it. Closing her eyes she pressed her lips to his softly, almost chastely. She felt keenly for him respond at all; irritation, disgust, thrill maybe. Nothing. His breathing stayed even, he didn't move. Feeling bolder she opened her mouth slightly and touched her tongue tentatively to his closed lips. He tasted salty and dark, musky like the opium incense Imam used to burn. It made her tremble a little. Still he did nothing. She pulled away expecting to see anger in his eyes, but there wasn't. It was something else entirely. Something she'd never seen there before. He lowered the goggles and gently pushed his way past her and out into the hallway. Kyra's jaw dropped, affronted by both her actions and his response, or, more accurately, his lack thereof.

* * *

Why did you let her do that!' The question screamed over and over inside his head as he walked briskly down the hall to…to anywhere but their cabin. He was angry with her, no not her, himself for not pulling away. He hadn't wanted it particularly, although the thought had crossed his mind more than once since returning to New Mecca. In fact it had taken all he had not to grab her and crush her mouth with his own. He licked his lips absently and was shocked that he could taste her there; like honey and warm cognac. What the hell was wrong with him? He had just wanted her to know that he was sorry for leaving her the way he did. He almost felt responsible for the way she was now. 

'No no no, she did that, it had nothing to do with you.'

'You just keep telling yourself that.' He shook his head as he entered the mess hall. He walked up to the bar and ordered a shot of bourbon to calm his tense nerves. Things were going to get complicated if this went any further. He downed the shot and ordered one more. This wasn't how things should be now.

'If not now, when? Hmm?' He downed the second shot. Inside his head he battled his thoughts.

'When I'm not being hunted like an animal, that's when.'

'You are an animal, and you know damn good and well THAT will never happen. You'll be hunted until you're dead.'

'No, I'll hide out somewhere long enough to convince the mercs I really am dead.'

'That'll never work. You'll go crazy sitting in one spot with one person for the rest of your life.'

'NO! We'll find a place-'

'A place to what? Settle down? Ha! You're not the settling type, and you know it.'

'With her I could be. She's something else. She's not afraid like all the others, she's never been afraid of me, not even on that God forsaken planet I found her on. She always had faith in me. She always knew I wouldn't leave them there, even when I didn't. She always…' His eyes grew wide as his subconscious drove the point home. She always… loved him. She loved him. She really loved him. No wonder it had crushed her when he left her in New Mecca. No wonder she snapped when she heard he was dead. It all made sense, and he knew it wasn't just because of the bourbon.

* * *

Kyra wasn't sure what to do with herself after Riddick left. She paced back and forth for a while mentally kicking herself for giving in to such a silly urge. 

'How could I do something so STUPID!'

'It wasn't stupid, he deserves to know how you feel.'

'Hell no! It was just a stupid moment of… of… of stupidity!'

'Well he didn't exactly push you off, now did he?'

'What man would? Look at me.'

'You're so full of-'

'I'm using him, remember? He left me in New Mecca to rot, I can't let some stupid schoolgirl crush get in the way of-'

'Of what? Revenge? You really think you can get one up on Riddick? Ha! Keep dreaming sister.'

'But-'

'Besides, you know damn good and well you care about him too much to ever lift a finger against him.'

'But-'

'Face it! You _love_ him!'

She sat on the bed, confounded by her last thoughts. She did. She loved him. She'd always loved him. She'd been mad when he left her, but she loved him nevertheless. She recalled the feelings of joy and relief that had threatened to overshadow her anger when she heard his voice back in New Mecca, remembered how she'd felt when he stood over her on her bed that night. 'God, it's true, I do love him.' Kyra lie down on the bed and fell asleep with this thought repeating over and over in her mind.

* * *

In her dreams she'd heard the door to the cabin open some time later, but lacked the will and motivation to sit up and find out where Riddick had been or what he'd been up to. Suddenly a strange male scent filled her nostrils, and she realized it wasn't Riddick in the room with her. Her consciousness shot to the surface and she was out of the bed in a flash of blankets facing two unknown male attackers. She instantly sized them up; the first one was about six-foot, stocky maybe two hundred pounds. The second, was shorter than the first, but looked to weigh about as much. 

"Easy, sweet'art," said the first in a slimy accented voice, "We're not gunna 'ert ya, we just want Riddick, and you're gunna tell us where 'e is." Mercs. Kyra noticed they wore dark blue jump suits like the maintenance workers on the ship. 'That must be how they found us.' Kyra's heart was pounding. 'FOCUS WOMAN!' The first man lunged at her feet, and she easily jumped over him and used him as a springboard to kick the other man in the face, pushing his nose up into his brain and killing him instantly. The first man stood up, dazed at her speed and agility. He glanced at his buddy on the floor noticing his disfigured face and then back at Kyra who stood en garde across the room.

"Why you li'l-" he came at her again this time meeting her heel with his throat, crushing his windpipe and dropping him to the floor to suffocate. The door opened again, and another merc rushed in at her, seeing his two comrades on the floor. She went for him but Riddick rushed in behind him and grabbed him in a headlock, covering his mouth and incapacitating him. He kicked and squirmed, reaching desperately for his shiv, but falling short as he passed out.

Luckily it was late enough most other passengers were either asleep or previously engaged so no one noticed the ruckus.

"Why didn't you just break his neck!" Kyra was pacing anxiously behind Riddick as he tied up the debilitated merc.

"I want to know what he knows, now help me get him up on the bed." Kyra only paced, eyes darting wildly back and forth between the two dead mercs on the floor.

"They came after me, Riddick, I had to defend myself… I had to-" Riddick stood and whipped around to grab Kyra's shoulders and shake her to her senses.

"SNAP OUT OF IT!" he yelled harshly. She stared up at him and then nodded. They got the merc up onto the bed and waited for him to come to.


	5. New Friends, Old Enemies

Wuddup wuddup! I've been on a small hiatus, but I'm back! I added a new character, and brought back an old one on kind of an AU basis. It's all explained in the chapter! Bless all my reviewers! And (as always) **PLEASE LEMME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK**! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!

Disclaimer: The usual, don't own, not for profit. Just a little amusement is all!

* * *

Chapter 5: New Friends, Old Enemies

Riddick stood with one foot planted on the bed, one on the floor, lightly slapping the poor merc to get him conscious. Kyra had dozed off and she looked so peaceful, so calm and content slumped in the corner, shiv out and in hand ready to go if needed. But Riddick was impatient, and though he hated to disturb her calm slumber, they had work to do. Besides, the whole room was starting to stink of death, even to the inexperienced nose.

"Hey! Wake up sleeping beauty!" Kyra started awake as Riddick yelled at the merc. She shook off the grogginess, alert almost instantly. That had been another part of her training. The merc stirred and his eyes snapped open with the next slap to the face.

"Wha- what the fuck!" The merc's eyes went wide with realization of whose presence he was in, "Oh my God, you're him aren't you? You're Riddick! Holy shit!" Kyra chimed in ominously.

"That's right ass-hole, so you better cooperate, or you run the risk of becoming another notch in a considerably long belt! Got it!" Riddick turned and looked at her, shaking his head. She was trying too hard. This guy was a rookie, which is why he was left outside the cabin to keep watch while his two buddies came after Kyra. He had no experience, or at least what he did have was negligible. It wouldn't take much to get him to talk.

"Let me make the threats, huh?" Kyra opened her mouth to retort, but thought better of it and shot him a snubbed look instead. Riddick turned his attention back to the merc on the bed.

"With that said, I only want to know one thing: Who hired you and your buddies?"

"Hell yeah! I'm being interrogated by Richard Riddick! Wait 'till the others hear about this shit!" Kyra chuckled to herself, despite her best efforts to keep a straight face. The man was… giddy? 'Definitly a rookie,' Riddick thought, 'He can't be more than twenty-two, doesn't even know when to piss his pants. We'll have to fix that.' Riddick reached his arm back to Kyra who was standing directly behind him (absently admiring the view) and motioned with his fingers.

"Your shiv," Kyra handed it over with a smirk, "I need to put some fear into this one." The man's eyes grew wide again, this time with terror as he felt cold steel pressed to his neck right above his carotid.

"No no no no! I'll talk! I'll tell you who put out the contract, don't kill me please!" He squirmed and wiggled away from the press of the shiv.

"One chance, better make it worth my while," Riddick backed the shiv off a little from the merc's throat, still not breaking contact just in case.

"It came from someone on Tetreon Alpha, some rich fucker that's obsessed with you. Told us to bring you back alive for sure, he wanted watch you get ghosted himself."

"I want a name!" Riddick pressed the shiv back into the man's throat and grinned as he squirmed some more.

"Ah ah…wait! His last name was Thomas… or Talbot? Something like that…I know it started with a 'T'. I can't remember… they did all the negotiations; I was just along for the experience." He carefully nodded to the two corpses on the floor. Riddick looked uneasy for a moment.

"Toombs?"

"Yeah! Yeah, that was it. Toombs. Anyway, this guy is nuts about you. He sent out an A.P.B. to every merc in the galaxy; five-hundred-K to anyone who brings you back alive. Said you two had a history,"

"And you're sure he's on Tetreon Alpha?"

"That's where the orders came from. C'mon, let me go now, " Riddick thought for a moment.

"Nope, change of plans," both Kyra's and the mercs eyes shifted at that, "You're gunna take us back to Toombs, and you're not going to bitch about it at all, got it?" The mercs mouth opened a little.

"Hell no, he'll kill me if I show up with your shiv at my back. He'll have me blacklisted; I'll never get work again. I-" Riddick cut the man off.

"Well, how 'bout if you show up with my shiv _in _your back? Because I'll kill you if you tell me 'no' one more time." The merc swallowed hard. It wasn't a thought he particularly enjoyed.

"Fine, okay. Can't you give her the shiv back now?" 'Much better, maybe this one's smarter than I thought.' He wasn't in the killing mood at the moment, but he would have had the situation required it.

"Good, now go get us a ship," the merc went to jump up and follow orders, but Riddick held him back for a moment, squeezing his shoulder hard and making him wince, "One more thing. I swear if you don't come back, or if guards show up at my door, I'll hunt down _everyone_…you… love." Once again the merc's eyes went wide and he nodded his head in agreement. He had a mother, after all, and he did care a great deal about her and he had no doubts but what Riddick said was true. _Now_ he knew when to piss his pants.

* * *

They let the merc go and cleaned up the cabin a little, putting the two corpses into the bathroom where it was cooler and the smell wouldn't spread as fast. 

"So who is this Toombs guy?" Kyra asked, dragging the smaller of the two dead men across the floor. She was quietly thanking Riddick for teaching her non-messy killing techniques.

"Just a merc, he used to be a big pain in my ass. Then he just disappeared." That seemed to be all he wanted to disclose on the matter, so, not exactly happily, she let it be. They got the room cleaned up. A while later the merc, Jonas was his name, returned with news that he'd procured a small skiff that was being fuelled as they spoke. There were also questions floating around the crew as to what happened to three of the maintenance workers.

It turned out that what Jonas lacked as a cold-blooded merc, he made up for in interpersonal relations. Particularly scheming, scamming and sweet-talking. He'd managed to get a small skiff, passage codes, and enough rations and fuel to get them to Tetreon Alpha even if they took their sweet time getting there. He'd also deferred rumors about the two maintenance workers; starting rumors of his own that in a drunken stupor they had accidentally jettisoned themselves into space. 'This kid might be more useful than I thought,' Riddick thought to himself. They boarded the skiff and took off without so much as a sniff in their direction from the transport ship and set a course for Tetreon Alpha.

Unlike its Beta counterpart, Tetreon Alpha was sparsely populated and held strict residential standards. Those who did live there were mostly rich retirees, politicians and others of the privileged sort. It was a sharp contrast to the smaller planet next door, which was a refuge for the lowest of the low in the universe. 'How in the hell had Toombs ended up there?' was a thought that nagged at Riddick the entire trip. He and Toombs did have history, and it wasn't pleasant. Toombs was the only merc to ever come close to killing him, and Riddick had never gotten to repay the favor. They had played the cat and mouse game for as long as Riddick had been on the run, but he hadn't heard anything from him since… well since just after he'd left Jack with Imam in New Mecca, actually. Toombs had just up and quit the game. He'd wondered a little what would cause such a rabid and relentless merc to give up on this ultimate contract. Now he got to find out.

Also nagging at him were the revelations he'd had in the ships lounge, but now was certainly not the time to go to Kyra about them. Now, as it always seemed to be, they had more important things to worry about. She was dreaming again now, he noticed little whimpers coming from her and the beginnings of sweat filled his nostrils. He pushed distracting thoughts of her out of his mind and tried to get some sleep himself.

* * *

A cramped and tense day later, they entered Tetreon Alpha's atmosphere. Jonas punched in the coordinates for Toombs' private land. 'Quite the acreage,' Riddick thought, 'for a merc.' They were discussing strategies on how to get to Toombs without drawing suspicion. Suddenly, Jonas got up and dug through a bag he'd brought. 

"Put these on," Jonas handed the two of them wrist shackles. Riddick quirked an eyebrow at the man, and Kyra began to protest but Jonas quickly explained, "If the guards think for one second that you're not in my complete control they'll shoot us on sight, Toombs' orders." Neither of them liked it but the shackles were flimsy enough that they could be broken easily if needed. They landed, and there was a short-lived anticipation as Kyra and Riddick slipped on the shackles before private guards came to investigate the unidentified craft.

"Showtime," Jonas muttered as the guards surrounded them.

"Drop your weapon! State your name and purpose!" the first guard shouted at Jonas. Jonas put the gun down on the ground and spoke.

"I'll drop the gun, but the shock stick stays," Jonas zinged Riddick lightly on the back of the thigh, eliciting a 'you're gunna die for that' look from the man. Jonas shrugged and went back to addressing the guard.

"I'm Jonas Salazar, I have Riddick, and his little girlfriend/accomplice to boot. Take me to Toombs!"

The guards mumbled and tittered amongst themselves, they all knew that name. The head guard seemed to think for a moment.

"Fine, this way. Men, keep you guns trained on the big one! He's not to get loose on my watch!" 'Smart man,' Riddick thought with a smirk. If this had been a real drop there was no way they would be able to take him in without at least that many guns aimed at him. But they really had no worries, he didn't have any intentions of getting away, he wanted to see the son of a bitch that ruined his short but perfect new life in New Mecca.

They were taken into a huge, elaborate house. It had an old, classic feel to it, like an antique, but it had been upgraded with all the latest technology. 'How in the hell did that fucker manage all this?'

Finally they were led to a large darkened room. It too had all the latest technology, including a holo-screen that flashed with news from around the galaxy. The room smelled sterile, like a hospital smells, but Riddick picked up sickness and decay underneath the sterility. There was a bed in the middle with people all about it, checking monitors and writing down numbers. The head guard announced their presence.

"Pardon me sir. I've brought one of the mercenaries you hired, he's fulfilled his contract, sir."

"Ahh, leave us! Everyone out!" The voice was weak and raspy, but Riddick would know it anywhere. As the room cleared out he saw the man lying in the bed, hooked up to all sorts of machines and monitors. He was pallid and clammy looking, but his eyes burned with the same loathing they always had.

"Long time no see Toombs," Riddick smirked, "Glad to see you're not well."

* * *

**!REVIEW PLEASE! **


	6. All Hung Up

Hey all! To all my reviewers: KEEP IT UP! You guys give me all the encouragement I need to keep this story going, whether I know where it's going or not. Love ya! There's a lot of swearing in this chapter, and, as always, believability is most important. I need feedback.

Also, I feel it's worth mentioning that I have a forum on my profile now, so stop by and say hello!

Disclaimer: I wish I owned anything related to PB/TCOR, however, i'm just a lowly fan.

On with the show!

* * *

Riddick lifted his goggles and rested them on his forehead, easily able to see in the darkened room. The withered man before him had once been his only worry as far as capture was concerned. Once he had weighed upwards of one hundred kilos, all muscle. Now if he weighed sixty kilos he was pushing it. 'I might get to repay him after all,' Riddick thought with a small grin. 

Toombs sat his motorized bed upright so he could look over the group.

"Well done… Jonas was your name, right? Well done, Jonas. I don't need to ask what happened to the rest of your crew," Toombs eyed Riddick and Jonas swallowed hard, "I heard about the two maintenance workers found dead on the Carrier II, figured it was _his_ fucking handiwork. Seemed to remember them as the rest of your crew. But the fact that you brought this…" Toombs looked Riddick up and down in disgust, "this animal in all by yourself, I think that entitles you to the whole reward." Toombs smirked and motioned with his hand and Riddick knew what was coming.

Suddenly a single shot rang out. Riddick turned as Kyra let out a cry. Jonas dropped to his knees with a stricken expression on his face. He looked down, touching the left side of his chest and when he removed his hand it was stained crimson. He opened his mouth to say something, but only gurgled and fell over. Kyra knelt beside him, and leaned her head down so she could hear what he was trying so urgently to say. Her eyes went wide and she nodded, then he went limp. 'Same ol' Toombs,' Riddick thought repulsed. Jonas had been growing on him, kind of like a fungus.

"Somebody come get that thing outta here," Toombs bellowed harshly. Seconds later a guard came in and dragged Jonas' body out of the room.

"What the fuck was that for?" Kyra growled at Toombs, standing with her posture entirely hostile.

"Was that really necessary?" Riddick asked coolly.

"Shit! You think I'm just gunna fork out 500k for your ass? Just like that? Especially when I know damn good and fucking well that he was in cahoots with you. HA! You expected me to believe that a god-damn rookie brought you in single handed! Sloppy, fucking sloppy." Toombs' laughter echoed through the large room, then in the next instant his voice became stone cold sober, "I'm not that stupid Riddick, you son of a bitch. _I_ couldn't bring you in single handed." All of Riddick's muscles twitched, and his nerves were beginning to split. He'd only been in this parasite's presence for ten minutes and already he was on edge. He saw the shock stick out of the corner of his eye lying next to the smeared pool of blood where Jonas' body had been.

"Don't even think about it, big evil. There's ten guns on you and twenty more you won't ever fucking see. You'll be Swiss cheese in five seconds or less if you even breathe at me fucking funny." He eyed Kyra and licked his lips with a snakelike tongue, "And I'd hate for them to accidentally put holes in your pretty girlfriend… more than she's already got, of course." It gave her the heebie-jeebies just imagining what he was thinking at that moment. Kyra shook the thoughts out of her mind.

"What's your name sweetheart? Don't worry, I don't bite… hard." Once again the room vibrated with his laughter.

"I wouldn't touch you with my worst enemy's pussy you ugly piece of-" Kyra spat, which only made him laugh harder.

"Oh hun," he wiped at his eyes with a shaky hand, "who said you'll have a choice in the matter?" Riddick tensed at that, and his inner animal perked its ears as well. 'He's threatening our Jack.' He didn't know everything about Jack's past but he knew there had been quite a bit of what Toombs was now suggesting at some point in her life.

"Touch a nerve did I Richie? I'll tell you what; I'll let you watch, ok?" Riddick growled. He could see Kyra's muscles pumping, like a feral cat ready to pounce. Her eyes were wild as painful memories fueled her desire to strangle the feeble man in front of her. 'Don't do anything stupid, kid,' was the look he shot her. Riddick spoke up to break the tension and distract Kyra from the murderous train of thought he was positive she was on.

"So this is where you disappeared to, huh? I started to miss our little games of tag." Toombs slowly moved his eyes from Kyra to Riddick. "I'd say stand up and let me look at ya but well…" Riddick grinned, Toombs just snorted.

"Some sort of mystery atrophying disease or some bullshit like that. All my fucking muscle tissue is eroding; eventually my heart will be too fucking weak to pump, my diaphragm won't be able to support the weight of my lungs enough to breathe. Even my fucking tongue is disappearing." When he said that, Kyra realized it hadn't been her imagination when she'd seen the snakelike tongue flicker out in her direction. It really _was_ _that_ thin. She couldn't repress a scoff.

"Serves you right, you piece of shit!" Riddick shot her another look to shut her mouth.

"You think it's fuckin' funny you little whore! We'll see how funny you-" Toombs was cut off by a coughing fit and a flood of medical types came rushing seemingly out of nowhere to his aide.

"If only all mercs could end up with a disease like this, the universe would be much better off." Kyra whispered with a wicked evil grin spread across her face. Suddenly a cry rang out from the center of the group.

"Guards! Take _cough cough _them two fuckers and _cough_ lock 'em downstairs _cough cough. _I'll fuck with them later."

Again out of nowhere twenty or so guards rushed the two, trying to restrain them enough to get at open skin with the hypos they carried. The weight of arms and bodies pulling on her was too much for Kyra all at once.

"Riddick! Shit … RIDDICK!" Kyra was screaming for him, and out of the corner of his eye he saw them stick her after she'd knocked a few of them to the floor. Riddick fought them off and rushed to her and watched her fall as her eyes rolled back. Seconds later they were on him again. He managed to break more than a few bones (including necks) before he finally felt a stick in the side of his neck, and one in his right arm. He took satisfaction in knowing he'd nearly ripped out the arms that stuck him before everything went black.

* * *

Kyra was the first to come too. 'I'm dead,' was her first thought as she opened her eyes and all she saw was white light. Then the thought hit her that she knew damn well she wouldn't go to heaven if and when she did die. She blinked a few times, but everything stayed bright white. She tried to move, realizing that her arms were stuck over her head. She looked up realizing she was chained, dangling from the ceiling, hanging so that her toes just barely touched the ground. She looked around and all she saw was white, like an asylum, and Riddick hanging across from her about ten feet or so away. No goggles, she noticed. 'He's gunna be pissed when he wakes up and can't see,' she thought with minor amusement. The light seemed to radiate down from the ceiling and was reflected and amplified by the white around them. She couldn't help but admire Riddick's lithe and muscular body as it was outlined and defined in the bright light. She heard a groan from the man across from her. She could tell he was dreaming.

_He was immersed in darkness, suddenly a familiar voice rang out in the dark. No body, just a voice._

"_Hey, where do I get eyes like that?" He knew this conversation._

"_You gotta kill a few people."_

"'_K, I can do it."_

"_Then you gotta get sent to a slam where they tell you you'll never see daylight again. Dig up a doctor and give him twenty menthol Kools to do a surgical shine job on your eyes."_

"_So you can see what's sneaking up behind you in the dark?" _

"_Exactly."_

_Something was pulling at him, trying to drag his consciousness to the surface. He dove further. Another pull. Something wasn't right._

Another groan. 'Here it comes,' she thought, 'Five… four… three… two…'

"Ahhh! Fuckin' shit!" 'I knew it,' she smiled to herself.

He wasn't sure where he was, but he was sure he couldn't see and that fact pissed him off even more than being strung up by his wrists.

"Are you with me Kyra?" he managed to groan the question between curses. This shit hurt even with his eyes shut.

"Yeah… I'm here, where else would I be?" As the question came out she thought of the fact that she could still be up with Toombs' disgusting ass. It gave her goosebumps.

"Did they hurt you?" was his next question and it was a deadly serious one. Kyra did a mental once over.

"Naw, just a little sore from hanging here, you?" She looked up at him, making her eyes focus through the brightness, "Shit, you're bleeding!" He had a massive cut above his right eye that was oozing blood down the side of his face.

"I know!" he snapped and it made her flinch a little.

"Riddick… I-" He cut her off.

"Not the time, Kyra." She started to retort but once again he cut her off, "Look, I can't see a goddamned thing, so you have to be my eyes. Is there a door?" He could tell by the acoustics of the room there wasn't, but it would get her mind off the fact that they were stuck for a minute at least. She let out an exasperated sigh.

"There's nothing to see. No door, no window, no opening at all so far as I can tell." She could feel a sliver of panic rise in her gut, but she shoved it back down knowing it would only get her yelled at. He seemed to be thinking, but his quiet was making her uneasy.

"Riddick?" There was a long pause before he answered her.

"What?"

"What are you thinking?" Another long pause.

"I'm thinking I should have ghosted Jonas when I had the chance and forgot about Toombs," Kyra's eyes shot up from the floor. He growled, "Or better yet, I should have left _you_ in New Mecca where I knew you'd be safe. I knew bringing you along this time was a bad idea, just like it was a bad idea five years ago. Only difference is I didn't listen this time. I'm going soft, and that's fucking dangerous." 'Oooh if only looks could kill…' Her sudden rage at that moment could have lifted her off the floor had her feet been firmly planted in the first place.

"OH HELL NO! What in the HELL are you talking about? I was in just as much danger there as I am now! They knew about me, they knew where I was, and they knew how to get to you through me! Even if I left New Mecca on my own they wouldn't fucking leave me alone because they know I know you! They would never stop until I was dead or they had me to slave out and you fucking KNOW it!" She gulped in a breath of air and calmed herself. He knew she was right, but that wasn't the point. One was easier to get out of shit like this than two. She continued.

"Look asshole, I would rather be here hanging from a ceiling _with_ you than running for my life through the galaxy _without_ you, understand?"

"Yeah, whatever gets you to sleep at night kid." He couldn't help but be a little pleased at her no-bullshit tone. There was a glimmer of the Jack he knew inside it. Riddick lifted his head. Kyra had never seen him with his eyes closed, except in his sleep. It didn't suit him.

"Hey, just out of curiosity, what did Jonas tell you with his dying breath?" Now it was Kyra's turn to pause.

"He said … he'd be back for us… somehow." Her tone was deadly serious, or Riddick might have thought she was joking.

"Interesting."


	7. Escape

WOOHOO! I got one more in before the new year! This is the longest chapter I've ever written, and I hope it meets everyone's expectations! GINORMOUS thank yous to every single one of my reviewers! I love you guys!

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue. I don't have much and you wouldn't want it anyway.

* * *

Devil only knows how long they'd been hanging there. Kyra generally had a good sense of time, but the hours seemed to run together now, and she was beginning to feel quite like a carcass hanging after the hunt. Her arms ached, and her stomach had been groaning for quite a while, and the silence emanating from the man across from her wasn't helping to pass the time. In lieu of conversation she tried focusing on what Jonas possibly could have meant by his dying words. She replayed them over and over again in her mind: _"I promise…I'll be back for you both…somehow." _

He couldn't be back for them, after all she'd seen him die with her own two eyes; she watched his eyes dilate and felt his last breath on her cheek, and there was _no_ coming back. She explored the possibility that she could have perhaps heard him wrong, although she was reasonably sure she hadn't. This was going to nag at her for a long time.

Riddick too was absorbed in his own thoughts, thoughts of how to get the two of them out of this little predicament without killing and/or mortally wounding either of them in the process. Riddick was sure Toombs had plans for him; after all, he wouldn't have gone to all the trouble getting him here if he didn't have something in mind. Knowing Toombs' convoluted and maniacal mind it would be slow, torturous, probably something to do with Kyra, otherwise he would have ghosted her already. His head was throbbing from the lights even though he'd kept his eyes shut. Toombs was trying to wear him down and break his inner animal but was succeeding only to piss him off, which would not be good for Toombs.

"Riddick?" Kyra tried once again at conversation but when she got no response she momentarily lost her temper.

"RIDDICK! Goddamnit answer me!" She yelled a little louder than she'd intended, but in all reality she wanted to kick and scream and fight and roar at him.

"What!" he yelled back, both their voices echoing inside his head.

"Talk to me please! This silence is driving me crazy!" There was a hint of desperation in her voice that touched something in him. However, he didn't let it soften his tone.

"What do you want me to say, huh? That it's all gunna be okay? That I know exactly what's gunna happen and when it's gunna go down? What Kyra! That I…" she whimpered, sounding like she was going to cry and he cursed himself mentally for his callousness. She sucked it up, determined not to be weak, at least not in front of him.

"I don't know, but anything is better than nothing. How long do you think we've been hanging here?" Now he softened his tone just a little.

"I don't know, 'bout twelve hours or so… give or take ten." He smirked as he heard a groan from her direction.

"How are you feeling? Your eye's stopped bleeding."

"Got a colossal fucking headache, other than that I'm just peachy." That was sarcasm at its finest. There was silence for a moment, then came the question she'd been dancing around.

"What do you think he's going to do to us?" Riddick didn't want to answer her. It wasn't what Toombs would do to _him_ that scared him the most and he really didn't want to tell her that.

"All I know is this room was made for me. It's bright, it's totally soundproof, there's no door, no window, nothing that I could possibly escape through. That fucker's been waiting for this for a long time, I know he has a plan. Toombs always has a plan. Kinda like me." He smirked again he could almost hear Kyra roll her eyes.

"You don't have a plan now, boy scout." 'Ha, got him.'

"Sure I do. My plan is to wait until Toombs shows me _his_ plan." A sharp 'hmph' was all he got in response before they heard a noise above them.

"Pop top ceiling, I should of known," Kyra grumbled.

The ceiling split open from a previously unseen seam in the middle, spreading just enough to pull one of the two bodies below up through the hole. Kyra began to freak when she realized she was the only one going up.

"What the fuck! Riddick! Fuck!" she yelled. He stayed still, listening.

"Yeah, that's right. Don't get any bright ideas big man," one of the guards hollered down. Another snickered at his buddy's remark. Only two guards, maybe seventy-five kilos apiece, maybe a shiv on each of them, but no guns clanking at their sides. No problem.

Suddenly, Riddick swung and pulled his legs up over his head grabbing the chain between his ankles, inverting himself.

"Oh shit, shut the door, shut the door!"

"I can't shut the door without bringing the girl up first!"

"Well hurry the fuck up man! Can't that shitty wench go any faster! He's gunna pull some shit and we don't got hypos or nothing!"

"Man. Fuck! Toombs was right about him!"

With a wide smirk Riddick used every muscle in his magnificent upper body and curled up to grab the chain from between his ankles and began to climb. He shimmied his way up to the opening in the ceiling, nearly beating Kyra to the top. One of the frantic guards tried to kick him in the face to knock him back down, but Riddick heard the rustle of the guard's pants and simply grabbed his boot and tossed him into the white room where he landed on his neck with a 'snap'. Riddick grinned and pulled himself up to the floor of the corridor, facing the direction of the other man who was pulling Kyra up.

"She goes, I go," Riddick growled. The man nodded vigorously, though Riddick still had his eyes closed, he knew. "My goggles?" It wasn't really a request, the man knew it was more of a 'do it or I'll kill you and do it myself' kind of thing, so he obliged cherishing very much his own meaningless life. The guard had won the pool on who got Riddick's goggles, so he had them snug in his pocket. He handed the larger man the specs and pulled Kyra in front of him like a shield. Riddick snapped them on and smiled as he could see now for the first time in a long, long while. What he saw pricked the ears of his inner animal; another man with his arm around Kyra's neck, backing her up slowly toward the elevator at the end of the corridor, a shiv at her throat.

"Now, don't do anything stupid, big man, I wouldn't wanna hurt your little girlfriend," the guard flickered his tongue out and licked at Kyra's neck. Her eyes darkened. Riddick smirked as he saw her anger well; she didn't take kindly to being licked, groped, pinched, fondled, manhandled or anything of the sort. Unless it was by a certain…ahem… other man.

"My little girlfriend can handle herself." Came Riddick's casual response, which flustered the guard a little.

Taking that as her cue, Kyra dropped her legs out from under her, momentarily throwing the man off kilter and giving her the advantage. With all her strength she threw her head back clocking the guard between the eyes and knocking him out. She got up rubbing the back of her head. That was going to leave a bruise.

"I told him." Riddick chuckled, checking the man for anything else that might come in handy. He took the shiv, a set of keys and a nice sized beating stick. "Are you okay?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, that big head must be all skull because that hurt like a bitch," she grumbled, kicking the man once in the gut. She caught the nightstick as Riddick tossed it to her, "Now what do we do?" she asked. Riddick quirked an eyebrow at her.

"_We're _not doing shit. _I'm _going to find Toombs and take care of some business. _You're _going to quietly find a way outta here and get us a ship, hopefully _our_ ship." Kyra just stared at him, stricken.

"What was that again? I don't think I heard you right, I could've sworn that I just heard you suggest that we _split up_ after all this. Is that right? ARE YOU NUTS!"

Riddick pulled her to him and clasped a hand over her mouth in one deft move.

"Shut the hell up! Are you trying to defeat the purpose of our quiet escape?" He growled into her ear. She took a deep breath, filling her nostrils with the smell of sweat, dried blood, and another scent that was Riddick's alone. It calmed her instantly, and sent ripples through… 'Not the time, Kyra.' He noticed her calm down and hesitantly he lifted his hand to ensure she was done ranting. He almost … enjoyed her being so close. 'Later,' he thought. She took a step back to regain her austere demeanor.

"Fine, like you said, I can handle myself." Riddick went to turn but she grabbed his arm, "Just… just be careful, ok?" There was a small amount of pleading in her voice underneath the doubt. Riddick smiled a little inside, not that he would ever let on.

* * *

After leaving Riddick at the elevator they took back to the surface, Kyra stuck to the shadows knowing damn good and well Toombs was smart enough to have surveillance all over. No sense in making a big ruckus when there was no need … not yet at least. It was night, from what she could tell, and it would be a shame to wake up all those sleeping guards. Besides, there would be enough of a ruckus when that guard she'd knocked out woke up. She figured she had an hour, give or take thirty minutes, to get out before he came to and alerted the whole damn place. Long before then Riddick would be at Toombs' throat, but what about her? She almost doubted herself, but she shook the thought from her mind as she traveled stealthily down one passage after another, hoping she was headed for an exit. She stopped, hearing footfalls around the corner. She started to backtrack, to look for a different way. She heard voices behind her now. 'Shit shit shit,' she thought. She ducked into a doorway, sucking into the shadows as close to the wall as she could get, hoping for nothing else but to become invisible, but readying her nightstick just in case. 

"Yeah, I could do with a good blow- ugh!" Was that a punch?

"Hey you!" There followed the sounds of a fistfight, another guard ran past her, and Kyra peeked one eye around behind her when she heard the soft 'thud' of a body hitting the floor. Another punch and 'thud'. The dark haired man standing over the bodies on the floor was familiar. She couldn't believe her eyes.

"Jonas!" She ran to him as he drug the bodies into a nearby room. Then it hit her.

"Nonono, you're dead! I saw it; you can't be here, you-" Kyra babbled. Jonas turned and shushed her. She gasped. His eyes were different now, a limpid blue where the darkest brown had once been. She started to back away, a little frightened.

"I assure you, I'm here. I'll explain later, c'mon. I know where the skiff is." She shook her head.

"Do you want to get out of here in one piece or not?" He turned and started down the corridor. Bewildered, Kyra followed him back to the skiff, awaiting his explanation.

* * *

Riddick walked hastily back to the room where Toombs had been. He had run into a guard, who was now quietly napping in the middle of the hall, other than that had met no resistance. He used the keycard he picked off the guard Kyra had knocked out and entered the room. He closed and relocked the door, quietly breaking the control panel. The sleeping form in the mechanized hospital bed stirred. Riddick lifted his goggles, walking over and nudging the man roughly with the business end of the gun. Toombs' eyes shot open and he went to yell when he saw who was at his bedside, but feeling the cold steel of a big gun pressed to the bottom of his jaw made him reconsider. 

"Just you and me, Toombs," Riddick said menacingly. He saw Toombs try to sneak his hand to a panic button on the bed, "I wouldn't do that, I don't want to have to kill you yet."

"You kill me, and this whole place will be on you like stink on shit in a matter of seconds. There's someone monitoring my vitals all the time. They see me flat line, they sound the alarm." He was a little too smug for Riddick's liking, but he was right.

"You think I couldn't get away from your punk ass guards? Shit! I ghosted one and knocked one out on the way down here to see your pathetic ass, so I don't think the rest would be much of a challenge." Toombs' eyes went wide, knowing the truth in the other man's words.

"Go for it then, you asshole! Kill me! Get it over with! Save me the suffering!" Toombs was a desperate man who desperately wanted to die. Riddick could smell his fear, it emanated from him like a man bathed in cheap cologne. Riddick smirked wide.

"No, that'll be too easy," once again Toombs' eyes went wide, "I'm gunna leave you here to rot in your own skin." Riddick looked up through the small window, seeing the skiff he'd arrived on land off in the distance. 'That's my girl,' he thought.

"I'll be going now, but first, I want a souvenir." His wicked grin was reflected back by the shiv shinning in his hand.

* * *

Jonas and Kyra watched intently out the front window. It seemed to Kyra that Riddick was taking forever, but in all reality they had only been parked here for a few moments. She was anxious, and jumpy. She was aware of his every breath. Could've had something to do with the fact that she had a presumably dead man sitting next to her, and he was very much alive. He wouldn't tell her what he was until Riddick got there, partially to keep her on edge, and fuck with her nerves. Mostly just so he wouldn't have to tell his story twice, it wasn't a pleasant one, after all. 

"I'm going to find him!" Kyra announced as she stood from the co-pilot's seat. Jonas grabbed her arm and she went to backhand him, but he blocked.

"Just wait, you know he'll get here when he's ready." Kyra stared at him in awe. It wasn't just his eyes that had changed; his whole manner was different. This Jonas was a far cry from the bumbling apprentice merc they had taken with them off the Carrier II.

"Look I don't know who, or what, you are but-"

"Look! There, just beyond that ridge, I saw his head." Kyra cautiously turned from Jonas and looked for herself; there in the distance was Riddick's bald and goggle clad head bounding toward the skiff. She thought she'd heard Jonas mutter an 'I told you so', but wasn't sure and didn't particularly care to find out. They lowered the ramp to let Riddick aboard then made a swift escape. Not a moment too soon, as they took off they saw a fleet of guards coming in their direction. They cleared the atmosphere in a matter of minutes, and when it was safe Kyra met Riddick at the hatch.

"What the fuck took you so long?" she started to yell at him, and then looked down, "Your hand… it's bleeding!" Kyra went for the med kit. He did have a few minor cuts from punching out the window in Toombs' room, but that wasn't where the blood was from. Riddick stopped her and opened his hand. There in his palm lay a bloody and mangled tongue. Kyra looked upon it in shock, instantly feeling a queasy satisfaction in knowing whose tongue it was.

"I told him I wanted a souvenir," he said with a wide smirk. Riddick went to wash up with Kyra padding along behind him. He washed his hands, setting the tongue aside for now. Kyra took a rag and began cleaning the dried blood from the side of his face. 'She never ceases to amaze,' Riddick caught himself thinking. The cut over his eye wasn't as bad as it looked, Kyra noticed, but it would still leave a tiny scar. Riddick looked into her eyes.

"Kyra," he began, but she cut him off.

"Don't, Riddick. Let's get some sleep and then we can talk." She stayed focused on wiping at his face.

"I was _going _to say, what coordinates did you set?"

"I didn't, actually, why?" Kyra looked a little puzzled.

"Well, if you're here, who's driving this shitty little undercutter?" Now it was Kyra's turn to smirk.

"He said he'd be back. He wasn't lying."

* * *

(Gasp! A cliffy!) Sorry everyone, but I can't just tell you all about Jonas now, then you wouldn't read the next chapter! I promise to update really soon, like hopefully by tomorrow. Stay tuned! ;o) Batty 


	8. Jonas Speaks

Finally, the chappy you've been gripping your seats for! Ok maybe not, but here it is. I know I know, "What happened to hopefully by tomarrow?" Suffice it to say it didn't work out. ANYHOO, as always, thank you to all my reviewers, I LOVE YOU GUYS! Cookies for all and keep it up, I need it like I need air.

Disclaimer: Don't own, or I wouldn't be here.

Chapter 8: Jonas Speaks

Riddick whipped past Kyra and charged up to the front of the skiff, snatching Jonas up out of his seat by his collar and bringing them as face-to-face as it gets without actually kissing the man. His voice was low and Kyra had to strain to hear over the hum of the engines in overdrive.

"I've only ever heard whispers of one race, besides Elementals, that could come back from the dead." Jonas flinched a little as Riddick sniffed him. "Your kind are supposed to be legend, myth. Something parents tell little kids about to get them to behave, like the fucking boogeyman."

Jonas looked at him a little panicked.

"Can I …uh… get us past the asteroid field before I go on the grill?" Jonas glanced out the front window just as the proximity alert sounded that they were about to hit something. Riddick dropped him with a grunt and Jonas coughed and quickly corrected their course to avoid the asteroid looming dangerously close.

"Get us through this fucking belt, set the autopilot and then it's twenty questions, understood?" Riddick growled. Jonas nodded, trying to concentrate on weaving in and out of the rocks floating around them.

* * *

A time later, after Jonas had eased them through asteroid belt with less than minimal damage and plotted a course as far away from shipping lanes and other such traffic as he could, he was prompted for his story. They sat down in the small common area to split a ration pack. Jonas thought for a moment. 

"I'm not even sure where to begin now," he said solemnly.

"How about starting with your real name? Or why your eyes are blue now? Or how you pulled off that little trick back there? I watched you die, yet here you are in front of me like a bullet never went through your chest." Kyra was visibly agitated; her eyes were wild, her jaw clenching and unclenching even when there was nothing in her mouth. She wasn't about to let her guard down, even if he was …allegedly... on their side. Jonas sighed deeply.

"My name really is Jonas Salazar. As for that little 'trick' as you call it, it was simple really. I just came to, opened up the hole, pulled out the slug and closed myself up." Kyra's eyes went wide.

"Yeah, like it's an everyday ordinary skill that everyone has! WHAT ARE YOU!" Kyra jumped up, yelling at him. Riddick grabbed her arm and sat her back down and she looked at him in shock wondering how he could be so calm.

"He's a Changeling." Riddick spoke up. Kyra looked wide-eyed between Riddick and Jonas, and Jonas looked down.

"Only half, actually," he mumbled, "A full-blooded Changeling can morph into any shape as long as it maintains it's body mass. I can only soften my form, like putty. You know, fit through tight spaces, cracks in the wall, slide under the door. Melt down, if you will. I have organs and blood vessels and bones, they're just different molecularly. Purebloods don't have any of that." Jonas held out his hand and Kyra gasped as she saw his fingers begin to soften and sag like pulled taffy.

"Cool trick, does it hurt?" Riddick asked mildly impressed.

"Not anymore. It used to when I was first learning how to control it. I can change my identity at will, too." Jonas restructured his hand.

"That's why you have blue eyes now, instead of brown like you had before." Kyra said, amazed. Jonas nodded.

"Yeah, I got tired of brown. That's what makes my people so 'dangerous'. We could be anyone one minute and someone else the next and you'd never know unless you saw the change for yourself." He snickered a little as he thought of all the forms he'd taken over the last eight years. "I could even pull off a convincing Kyra."

Kyra shot Jonas a look, but her eyes went wide again as she saw herself appear before her. It was uncanny, he looked just like her. She moved her head, and Jonas mirrored her.

"That could be fun," Riddick smirked, however one of Kyra around was quite enough.

"That's just creepy," the two Kyras spoke in unison and the real Kyra grabbed for her shiv. "Knock it off, Jonas!"

He went back to his original form quickly. He didn't feel like patching up any more holes.

"I've heard of people like you. You guys started out as experiments or something, right?" Kyra was facinated but she quickly kicked herself mentally as a look of absolute despair crossed the man's face. Again he sighed heavily. Kyra started to apologize, but Jonas stopped her.

"It's ok. It's true, my people are descended from experiments, mutations, wretched genetic alterations performed in the late 20th century." Jonas leaned back against the bulkhead. This was going to be wearisome. This was the first time in a long long while that he'd told his story, and it felt like he was scraping scar tissue off of old wounds. It hurt a lot, but he began anyway.

"The militaries of Old Earth were in a race to create the perfect soldiers, ones with infinite healing capabilities that could be completely controlled and used for weapons or espionage. Four nations were performing top-secret experiments on condemned prisoners and homeless people trying to attain the perfect combination of molecular control, obedience, and super intelligence. In the end all the projects were scrubbed because people started asking too many questions and they ran out of ways to back up the expenses. Everyone involved, the scientists, the officers, and the 'products', were all supposed to have been killed."

"Oh that's horrible," Kyra was astonished; she thought her past was bad enough, but to know you should never have been born. Riddick could relate, he never should have livedpast his first day. Jonas continued.

"Some of my people managed to escape and the history is a little foggy from there, but they were scattered to the four winds. Some stayed together, some went out alone. My grandparents stayed together and had my mother. That's all I know about them, except that they were purists, that's all my mother would ever tell me. My mother fell in love with a human and they had me. My grandparents disowned her. She fought with them constantly, but they wouldn't have anything to do with a 'halfling' like me. Finally, my mother decided it was best to find a new place to live. We left for the planet Ajilon when I was four and that's where I grew up. I had a good life, for the most part. Of course I had to hide who and what I was for the grander majority of my life."

"That must have been hard, having to hide who really were," Kyra was sympathetic, reminiscing about the two years she spent as a boy to avoid being harassed as she ran for her life through the galaxy. It was a much grander scale, but it was still similar. Jonas nodded and continued.

"About eight years ago, a group of mercs came to my town. They said they were looking for someone, and believed he was hiding among us. He wasn't, but they didn't believe us. I don't remember a name, just that they said he was very dangerous. The elder of our town council pleaded with them, begging them to believe that the man they sought wasn't there," Jonas faltered, his voice cracking with emotion, "They pillaged the town, burned it to the ground killing many of my friends and neighbors and taking the rest captive to slave out…or out right sell, my mother included. My father fought but was killed by a coward who shot him in the back. I never saw my mother again."

Kyra's mouth was agape, and Riddick felt a twinge of pity for him, since it had probably been him the mercs had been looking for. Jonas' eyes darkened.

"I've been hunting the one who lead them ever since, hoping to find my mother, but if not, revenge will do. " he looked up at Riddick, "That's why I signed on to help find you. I was hoping you'd help me to find him." Riddick looked away.

"I don't do pity jobs." His tone was cold and Kyra looked at him as if he'd sprouted horns and a pointy tail.

"Will you at least tell me if you know of him? His name is William Johns." At this Riddick perked. Of all the fucking people to come back and haunt him, the blue eyed devil? That hyped up, "seventy nine kilos of gutless white meat", as Carolyn had put it, _that _William Johns? Riddick shook his head.

"And what are you going to do when you find him, huh? Kill him right?" Jonas nodded and went to speak but Riddick cut him off, "Then what?"

Jonas thought for a moment.

"Well, I'm not sure, I hadn't thought that far ahead." Jonas was troubled by Riddick's comments. He'd never questioned his quest for retribution before.

"Well you better start thinking. I hate to break it to you kid, but Johns is dead, has been for almost six years."

Jonas' eyes dropped and he looked furious and heartbroken all at once. Johns had been his last hope for finding his mother, his only purpose in life had been finding him, and now…

He looked up at Riddick with pleading eyes.

"Did he at least die slowly? Did he suffer? Tell me he prayed for death before he left this world!" He sounded almost on the border of hysterics. Kyra and Riddick exchanged looks, each of them remembering the creatures from that hellish planet.

Kyra flashed back.

_She was shaking, on the edge._

"_We're gunna lose everybody out here. We should have stayed at the ship."_

"_He died fast, and if we have any choice about it that's the way we should all go out. Don't you cry for Johns, don't you dare."_

Riddick's voice brought her back.

"He was torn in two and eaten, I think he suffered. Not long enough in my opinion, but he felt hell for at least two seconds before his brain shut down." Riddick said coolly. Jonas looked down, feeling only minor satisfaction. He wanted to lash out, strike at anyone in sight, but the only two in his sight were his... friends? His frustration was mounting.

"I… I think I'll go be by myself for a while," he said quietly as he rose and walked to the small cargo hold in the back of the skiff. Kyra went to follow him, but Riddick stopped her.

"He needs his time, let him be."

* * *

Ok... honestly what did you think? Review please. If you review for no other chapter, PLEASE make it this one :o) 


	9. Things change

Hello all my pretties! My updates may get fewer and farther between since I'm having computer issues at the moment! Never fear, the story will goon! As always MUCH LOVE to all my reviewers! Keep it up PLEASE!

Also there's an interesting topic on my 'Big Evil' forum entitled 'here's a doozey'. Stop by and say HI!

Disclaimer: We all know I don't own anything but the plot and Jonas, he's all mine!

* * *

Later, Riddick sat in the pilot's seat staring out into the unending night that is space. It put him at ease somehow to be surrounded by so much darkness. Kyra was sleeping and he was immersed in silence and lost in his own thoughts. Thoughts of Carolyn Fry. He wasn't sure what prompted him to think of her, he hadn't for quite some time, but there she was inside his head; all sweat, boots and tool belt leather. He thought of her standing at the end of the gangway on the little emergency skiff, soaking wet and desperate for his help. Her words repeated over and over inside his head. 

_"There must be some part of you that wants to rejoin the human race."_

He hadn't lied when he answered her, he really didn't know how. Lately it had been bothering him though. The only reason he even cared now at all, he felt, was Kyra. Jack. He hated calling her Kyra. She wasn't Kyra to him. But maybe, just maybe, if he could bring back his Jack. Maybe then she could help bring back his humanity, what little there was. The look in Carolyn's eyes before she was pulled from his grip still shook him from time to time. It was the look of absolute understanding that she was going to die. For him.

Suddenly, screaming from the back of the skiff shattered his calm. He ran to the back to check on Kyra. He'd been so absorbed in his own contemplations that he hadn't noticed the scent of her sweat had become tainted with adrenaline, or the sound of her heart pounding madly in her chest.

* * *

Hearing Jonas' story got Kyra thinking about her own troubled past. The juvi centers and group homes that she'd been through, the few friends she'd made and lost. She had fallen into a uneasy sleep without even really trying. 

_Gotta hide, gotta hide… there! She found a place in a bush nearby, hoping and wishing and praying that she wouldn't be seen. She wouldn't go back to that hellhole, not again. She would die first, every cell in her tiny eight-year-old body believed that. There were flashlight beams floating around her and voices calling out to her with false kindness._

_"Where are you? We want to help."_

_HA! There was no kindness in juvi, no help. The girls that she roomed with beat her almost nightly, the guards didn't care, and most of them would have raped her given the chance anyway. Two of them eventually would. Now she heard dogs barking, she should have known they'd use the dogs. The barking was coming closer. Dammit dammit dammit…RUN! She bolted from the bush only to make it ten strides and be pounced upon by a hundred and twenty pound snarling and slobbering beast._

_"NOOOO!" She screamed as hands grabbed her, pulling her to her feet and dragging her back to the group home, kicking and screaming._

_She flashed forward to later that night. That night she found out what pain really was. The girls she roomed with were particularly cruel to pussies that tried to escape. They beat her head against the floor, cut her, ripped her hair out. She screamed until she could taste blood in her breath from her raw throat, still no one came. But she kept screaming, she had to keep screaming. She was being shaken, and yelled at._

"Kyra! Kyra, wake up!" Wait. That's not right. That wasn't the same voice that had been yelling at her before. She knew this voice and had trusted it with her life. The smell of him filled her nostrils and quieted her.

She stopped thrashing and opened her eyes. She found herself staring into two shining silvery pools. She could barely see the rest of him in the darkness. But his eyes were glimmering at her with …concern? She sat up staring at him as though entranced.

"Are you with me, Kyra?" His voice was filled with unexpected worry. She liked the thought that he worried for her.

She nodded, and Riddick's expression became steely once again.

"Hell of a nightmare, huh?" he asked quietly, but she was thinking to herself and didn't hear him. He rose to leave. Kyra snapped her head up.

"Riddick wait!" He stopped and turned. She lowered her eyes feeling ashamed at what she was about to ask.

"Will you … stay?" Three little that words that melted away his most severe response. He couldn't deny her. It took him a moment, but he walked slowly to her cot and slid in next to her on top of the blanket noticing that she was still trembling from her nightmare.

They adjusted until both were comfortable. She pulled his arm around her and he stiffened a little behind her and then relaxed against her back. They lay in silence for a moment, and then came Riddick's voice vibrating beside her ear. The tingles that she'd almost felt the last time they'd been so close took her by surprise now.

"You want to talk?" he asked softly, referring to her nightmare. It was a rare mild moment for him but Kyra had already proven herself vulnerable by asking him to stay and it comforted her just as much to know that he cared at all.

"Not tonight," was her answer and he left it at that. She huddled up to him taking comfort in his warmth at her back, and easily drifted back off.

Riddick, on the other hand, lie awake listening to her breathing and absorbing the quiet energy she emanated. The animal in him was purring and growling at the same time. Purring because he had the one and only woman he'd ever come remotely close to loving in his arms, and growling because he could feel himself weakening because of her.

* * *

The next day was spent in a strained silence; it blanketed the entire skiff. Jonas felt choked by it as it radiated from Kyra and Riddick, and Jonas wondered what the hell was going on. When they decided Toombs' men probably wouldn't be close behind, they stopped at a tiny pit stop planet just to the side of commercial lane IP3 to refuel and restock. 

Kyra had decided that even though it might be a rip off, a shower would be worth the hundred creds it would cost her. There was nothing wrong with getting dirty, but there was something to be said for getting clean as well. She grabbed clean clothes and the cleanest looking towel out of a pile next to the shower rooms and went in.

The room was tiny and simple; four walls, a shower stall (with no curtain mind you) and a chair where she could put her clothes without getting them wet. Kyra stripped and stepped under the warm water, not as hot as she would have had it, but there was only so much hot water and she didn't want to use it all too quickly. Her muscles ached from hanging in Toombs' 'white room' for so long. It turned out they had hung there for almost ten hours, and now her shoulders felt as though they could turn to stone at any moment. She let the water flow over her, taking her troubles down the drain with it. She couldn't feel the eyes on her.

Riddick stood just inside the cracked door having originally intended only to bring her towel in that she had forgotten outside. But he now found himself transfixed, his inner animal purring once again from the sight before him. The water that flowed over her formed tiny rivulets that guided the eyes easily over her body. She was beautiful, and it had been a long time since he'd seen anything genuinely beautiful. He found he couldn't look away, no matter how he wanted to. There were tiny dark scars scattered over her skin, evidence of her rough past. Her fair skin was a sharp contrast to her almost black hair as it spilled down to the middle of her back. She turned a little to the side and it took him a moment but finally he averted his eyes, laying the towel on the bench and leaving the room. Watching anymore would be his undoing and he couldn't afford to come undone now. He leaned back against the wall outside the tiny room taking a deep breath, considering what he'd just seen and the things that were stirring in him now.

She got out and dressed in a black long sleeved shirt and black cargo pants, all to soon for her liking, but she came out feeling like almost a new woman. When she stepped outside the shower room door she was surprised to find Riddick standing there, towel in hand.

He breathed her in as she brushed by him. She smelled clean, the shampoo masking but not completely obliterating her own scent. He let out a small grin as he stepped inside and shut the door.

"Never pictured you as much of the showering type. I guess every animal needs a bath now and then, huh?" Kyra smirked as she heard him grunt through the door. She began brushing out her hair. She heard the water come on.

'Mmm,' she thought musingly, 'he's naked in there.' Just then, Jonas came running up and informed her that their faces were becoming public knowledge. She turned to put the brush down and bang on the door of the shower but her eye caught movement. She looked up before she could think about it and straight through a gap in the door she saw Riddick's very naked body under streams of hot water. She looked away at first, then back up as though her eyes had a mind of their own. She could only stand speechless as she watched him move under the water, her eyes roaming over him like a connoisseur might look at a bottle of fine wine. His back was smoother than she'd imagined it and the way the water coursed over each muscle was stunning. A thought crossed her mind then. A thought of going back into the little room, stripping off her clothes again and joining him under the water. Hell, he probably wouldn't mind. Her feather light touches might even go unnoticed since he had to keep his eyes closed. She just wanted to feel him a little, after all. Maybe lick up a droplet from his skin. He turned unknowingly to face her and she turned away, anymore might negate her better judgment. Taking a deep breath she turned back and banged on the shower room door.

"He big guy, make it quick! We gotta jet before we get seen!" She left to find Jonas and finish prepping the skiff. Little did she know he had felt her eyes on him and he liked it. Knowing she watched him with the same hunger that he had for her somehow made his pulse quicken more than when he had actually been watching her. This was going to be interesting.

* * *

Jonas thought of changing forms when they reached the tiny planet and later he wished he'd taken the time to do it. Pictures of the three of them were splayed across vid screens everywhere he turned. Not very flattering pictures but enough to get them noticed if they stuck around much longer. He heard whispers from other patrons that the bounty for Riddick had been doubled to one mil, and the other two were at 100k a piece. Toombs' hand, no doubt. The only good news was they were all wanted alive. Someone thought they'd seen the girl by the showers, but couldn't be sure. All the more reason to expedite their departure, Jonas figured. Showered, refueled and rationed they set off, keeping off the marked lanes as much as possible to avoid unwanted attention. 

Riddick rested on the cot toward the back of the skiff since he'd been awake all night, and he needed to sleep while he could. Jonas piloted and Kyra sat up front with him in case he needed backup. Things were quiet, and each of them was lost in their own thoughts.

"Are you okay?" Kyra asked, not taking her eyes off the controls, "You went off by yourself for so long last night and got me worried and shit."

"Huh? Yeah, I guess. I gotta figure out what I'm going to do now though." Jonas answered.

"Well, we all seem to be in the same boat right now anyway so you can stick with us until you figure it out, alright?"

Jonas nodded. There was another period of silence. This time Jonas was the first to break it.

"So what's with you and the killer?" he asked nonchalantly.

"We have… history." Jonas looked at her questioningly, "He saved my life, got me and a holy man named Imam off this nightmare rock we crash landed on." Memories threatened to butt their way into her mind, but she forced them back with great effort. Jonas spoke again.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but why don't you two just fuck and get it over with?" Kyra thought surely she'd heard him wrong.

"Huh?" she asked, momentarily flustered

"He wants you, you know?" Still she looked at him quizzically. "Riddick, he wants you. I can see it when he looks at you, even behind the goggles. It's written all over his face. I'm surprised you haven't noticed." He said it so lightly, as though it wouldn't mean the world to her to know.

"No way, he still thinks of me as a kid," she said as apathetically as she could manage. Jonas only grinned.

"You didn't see the way he looked at you in the shower earlier, did you? He definitely wasn't seeing a kid." Kyra's eyes shot up from the controls.

"How do you know he was watching me in the shower?" she asked skeptically.

"When I came looking for you guys to let you know that our pictures were all over the place. I came around the corner and he was just standing in the door admiring the view."

Kyra thought on it for a minute. He'd been watching her in the shower? How had she not felt it? What the fuck? The thought both offended and excited her. Mostly excited.

"So what? So he wants my body, what man wouldn't?" She was trying desperately to sound indifferent, though she was far from it.

"It's not just that. I can't explain it, but I can tell there's more to it than just your body."

Suddenly, Kyra sprung out of her seat.

"Something I said?" Jonas asked as she took off to the back of the skiff where Riddick was sleeping. She stood in the door of the small and darkened room letting her eyes adjust. Once her eyes attuned she saw him lying on the cot face up, arms up and hands behind his head. She walked purposefully forward and punched him hard in the chest, then quickly stepped back expecting him to swing at her. He didn't. He only turned his head and looked at her, shinned eyes gleaming up at her.

"Yes?" His voice was low and resounded in the tiny room. It made her shudder a little.

"What the fuck! Jonas said he saw you watching me in the shower!" Riddick sat up on the cot and looked at her.

"The way I see it, we're even. You watched me, too."

Her eyes widened, she was caught. As she fumbled with her words Riddick stood from the cot and moved in front of her. Though she couldn't see well, his presence alone silenced her. She stared into his eyes seeing a hunger reflected there. She heard a noise rumble from his chest and couldn't decide if it was a growl or a purr.

He expected her to back away, to break his stare, to see fear in her eyes. There was only fascination and daring. He moved closer. There was electricity between them, both of them felt it. He was debating inside himself what to do next. He remembered her taste on the transport shuttle and imagined his senses being inundated by that essence. It gave him chills.

Suddenly she pushed herself forward, crushing his mouth to her own. Everything in him screamed to pull away but he wrapped his arms around her instead, lifting her off the deck and heightening their kiss. His tongue explored her velvet mouth and found the same rich and dark taste he had before. 'Must just be her.'

She could almost feel his inner animal roaring with pleasure as she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, pulling him even closer. The heat between them was intense. She felt his hands move along her thighs then wrap around her lower back, pressing their bodies painfully closer. All the years of wondering and craving and aching were released as their tongues danced. She felt primal, base. Like her own inner animal had taken over.

Suddenly, the skiff jolted violently and they were thrown against the bulkhead. Then Jonas' voice crackled over the intercom.

"Hey kids, I hate to break up whatever little party is going on back there, but we're being shot at and I could use some backup!"


	10. Nightmares

First and foremost, I want to take a moment to convey just how much I LOVE my reviewers. It makes my day to open my email and find review alerts. It means a lot to me that you all like this so much, I certainly didn't think it would ever get this good when I started. You guys are the driving force behind most of this story, –smooches- THANK YOU ALL! This is my longest chappy EVER! I hope everyone likes where this is going. I'm working hard to keep it believable and keep every one in character so questions and comments, praise and otherwise, are welcome!

Also, there is quite a bit of this chapter in _italics_. Those parts are dream sequences, not real life.

Disclaimer: The only things I own are the plot and the characters that aren't in the movies. The rest of it is all David Twohy.

**Warning: There is some material in this chapter which some readers may find offensive, read carefully. **

* * *

"Fucking mercs. They must've followed us!" Jonas grumbled, doing what he could to avoid the ship that was intent on slamming into them.

"MOVE!" Riddick hollered at Jonas as he charged to the front of the skiff.

"There's not time, they're trying to cripple us and drive us back to the planet. I can maneuver just fine, but I need ideas on how to shake 'em!" Jonas yelled back as their vessel was struck again. Riddick growled and took his place in the gunner's chair behind the pilot's seat. He didn't like sitting second seat to anyone, especially when his own life hung in the balance. Kyra sat in the co-pilot's seat and checked the spec screen for damage, finding one engine out.

"We've got an engine out, if we don't shake these guys were not gunna make it!" The merc ship came alongside the skiff and bashed into it again.

"They're not trying to kill us, they want us alive. That's why they haven't fired on us yet." Jonas was busy flipping switches and trying to restart the defunct engine without success.

"I can't get a clear shot!" Riddick yelled, "Keep this shit heap steady!" Riddick tried shooting again, but still couldn't hit the other ship and it came around behind them for another backend ramming.

"I have an idea! Everyone's strapped in, right?" Jonas looked over his shoulder at Riddick, "When I give the mark, start shooting, ok big man?" Riddick nodded having a clear idea of what Jonas had in mind. Jonas waited a moment until he felt the merc ship was close enough then cut the engine and inverted the skiff. "NOW!"

Riddick started shooting just as the merc ship flew under them and it ran straight into the fire, exploding in their faces and blasting the little skiff with shrapnel. Suddenly an alarm sounded and Kyra checked the spec screen.

"Shit! A piece went through the hull of the cargo hold!" Kyra was yelling over the hiss of their cabin pressure escaping. Jonas righted the skiff and managed to lower the access door and closed off the cargo hold before they lost too much pressure. They all breathed a small sigh of relief, though they were far from out of the woods.

"Is everyone alright?" Jonas asked. Kyra nodded to him shakily then looked back at Riddick who was smiling.

"What the fuck are you so smiley for? We were just almost killed!" Kyra asked astonished.

"Just a little impressed, that's all. I wouldn't have thought you had balls like that, Jonas." Jonas smiled briefly, "However, next time, move or I'll move you myself." Riddick added with only minor threatening. Jonas still chose to take it as a compliment.

"You learn a few things as a dumbass rookie merc." Jonas beamed for a second, then got back to the problem at hand, "Now what do we do? We're all highly wanted, we have a hole in our ship and only one engine. Any ideas?" There was only silence. Kyra checked the galaxy map.

"All of the closer planets are going to be crawling with mercs, since we got Mr. Big-ass Payday over here." Kyra said pessimistically nodding in Riddick's direction.

"We should split up," came Riddick's voice. Kyra spun her head around to face him so fast she almost gave herself whiplash.

"What the fuck is it with you and splitting up? Splitting up is the LAST fucking thing we should do! We've done pretty damn good together so far, so we should keep it that way!" Kyra yelled. Riddick went to interrupt but she kept going, "Shut up! Splitting up is the worst fucking idea EVER! Let me clarify for you, WE'RE NOT SPLITTING UP ASSHOLE!"

Kyra stared at him deadpan, and Jonas stared at her with wonder. It seemed to him that yelling at a convicted murderer and calling him names was the worst idea ever, but maybe he was wrong, since said murderer only grinned at her.

"Well, _kid_, if you can come up with something better…" Now he was just trying to piss her off and was doing a damn good job. Jonas could almost see the sparks flying between them as they stared each other down.

"We can make it back to Helion Prime," Kyra suggested through clenched teeth, wondering at the same time how she had ever kissed this stupid, arrogant, pain in the ass. Riddick scoffed at her.

"You think they won't track us back there? Besides, _you've _done enough to Imam and his family."

"Me! Goddammit I-"

"Look, there's no reason to get all unpleasant about this," Jonas spoke up to cut the tension, "I have an idea if anyone's interested, and it may not be a very good one but …" Slowly they looked from each other to Jonas.

"I have contacts on Ajilon still. Haven't been back in a while, but I know they're still there. It's a long ways away I know, but if we can get there we can lay low for a while, get our ship fixed, figure things out." Jonas looked between Kyra and Riddick expectantly. They each thought for a moment.

"How do we get there with only one engine?" Kyra asked, trying to shoot holes in his plan.

"I can probably jerry rig the other engine so at least it will work for a while, we'll just have to go slow. It'll take longer, but we can do it if we stay off the beaten path."

"How much longer?" Riddick asked. Jonas called up the system map on his screen and did a few calculations.

"I figure we can make it in seventeen weeks give or take a few days."

"What the fuck are we going do for seventeen weeks!" Kyra yelled. Jonas looked back at the older model cryosleep stations toward the back of the skiff.

"You can't be FUCKING serious!" Kyra yelled, "I've already had my life ruined by one crash in cryosleep, I don't fucking think so!" She unbuckled herself and began pacing anxiously.

"We won't crash because I'll stay awake. Cryosleep doesn't affect me. My physiology is too different. I can stick out four months by myself. I've done it before, and if anything does happen I can wake you guys up." Kyra stopped and stared at Jonas, and Riddick began laughing darkly.

"You think _we're _going to sleep and leave _you_ up and awake?" Riddick unbuckled and quickly stood, grabbing Jonas by the throat and lifting him out of his seat, slowly squeezing off his air. "How stupid do you think I am?" Riddick growled.

"Riddick…" Kyra started to interject, but the look Riddick shot her told her to shut her mouth, so that's what she did.

"What's going to stop you from taking us back to Toombs and collecting on our heads? 1.1mil is a lot of money." Riddick asked.

"_Ack_… I'm just… _gasp_… as wanted …_hee_… as you… _ech _… you'll have to … _agh_… trust me," Jonas choked out the words around Riddick's grip on his throat. Riddick thought on it for a moment while Jonas started to turn colors. Riddick pulled him closer, growling.

"I have shown trust to two people, one of those two is on this damn ship. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't jettison you out into space." He dropped Jonas who began violently coughing and gasping for air. He caught his breath and rubbed at his throat. 'That's going to leave a mark,' he thought.

"Because I consider you and Kyra my friends. Why else would I have come back for you two at Toombs'? I could have easily made an escape, but I didn't. I don't turn my back on friends, haven't had enough to risk losing any of them."

Riddick thought on it. Up until now there really had been no such word as 'friend' for him. Imam was the closest he'd come, and that was only because he wouldn't give up on him. Kyra was something entirely different. 'Look at it like this,' he thought to himself, 'Cryosleep doesn't really affect you either, if anything goes wrong you can always kill him later.' His logic was undeniable.

Kyra agreed after a lot of convincing and she went under quickly. But Riddick's plan backfired in this face and though he fought it with everything in him, he eventually succumbed as well.

* * *

_Riddick:_

_He was cold, shivering and naked and covered with afterbirth, but he was being hugged close to something warm and soft. A woman. His mother. She was hurrying through the streets with him clutched as tightly to her as she could manage without crushing him._

_"I can't let them kill you, oh God help me, they can't take you from me." She was desperate and crying. He heard angry voices behind them and the woman began to run faster. Then she stopped._

_He was jostled, and suddenly the warmth was gone and he was surrounded by cold darkness. He heard shouting and a woman screaming and he waited for the warmth to return, but it never did. He felt so alone he didn't even bother howling like a newborn should. He was unwanted, unloved. He just lay quietly in the trash bin with the rest of the shit waiting to die. But fate had another notion._

_Suddenly something sparked in him; instinct. The pure, powerful, animalistic instinct to survive. He screamed out once, then again and again until someone found him. They took him and cared for him and taught him to trust. There were gentle touches and voices cooing at him. He was wanted now. He got to play, and eat, and found out what life was supposed to be. He could have had a happy life. It was a cruel thought._

_Then one day, his trust was broken and he was sold, traded for drugs and from then on there was no such thing as love. Shortly after he learned to kill._

_He felt himself trying to swim blindly to something, anything that would keep him afloat. He was too heavy and was sinking in the thick liquid. He was going to drown soon if he didn't get out. The liquid sloshed into his mouth and it tasted metallic, almost coppery. He was weary and beginning to lose hope, resigning to the fact that he was indeed going to die. He reached out hopelessly one more time and was surprised when he felt something hard hit his hand. He felt it with the other hand and pulled himself to it. He crawled up onto it and opened his eyes. He was bathed in crimson. Blood. He'd been swimming in blood. It was all he could see, all over and all around him._

_'No, NO!' He had to get it off. He started wiping at himself, but it wouldn't come off. It only smeared, staining him red. He began to tear at himself trying to get clean. Scratching, ripping, shredding his own skin. Soon his own blood mixed with the blood on him and he felt different. He looked over into the liquid below and saw his reflection was still that of a boy, but his eyes had changed into something else. He felt wild, fierce like something had been released in him, something that never should have been._

_

* * *

_

_Kyra:_

_She was cowering frightened of the man above her who was swinging a wooden cane menacingly in his right hand. His face was twisted in anger, and she scooted deeper into the corner. She didn't recognize the man, but she had the feeling that she was supposed to be able to feel safe in his presence. This was far from safe. He teetered to one side, then to the other. He was drunk. Looking through his legs she saw something broken on the floor, a cookie jar. Kyra looked down at her hands and found them to be very small, she was very small._

_"You've been a very naughty girl and naughty girls need to be punished." His voice was dark and slurred by the booze. He smiled cruelly down at her as he brought the cane back over his shoulder. Kyra closed her eyes, awaiting the blow that was to come. This, too, was familiar._

_Suddenly she heard a loud 'bang' followed by a spray of something wet and sticky all over her tiny face and hands. She opened her eyes to see the man on his knees in front of her, a stricken look on his face and a gaping hole in his forehead. Kyra looked down and began to shake violently as she was covered with blood and globs of gray matter and little shards of bone. The man dropped to the side, revealing a shaking woman behind him holding a shotgun. With wild eyes the woman looked at Kyra, dropping the gun and swooping down to pick her up. The woman whispered to her frantically._

_"He's gone, he's gone, he'll never hurt us again, he's gone baby, let's get you cleaned up, huh? Shhh, don't cry baby, it's ok now, he's gone."_

_The woman bathed her hastily, the tiny bone pieces scratching her skin and the water turning pink around her feet in the shower. She got Kyra redressed in clean pants and a clean shirt. Suddenly the woman went still, listening intently. Her eyes went wide, and when Kyra listened too she could hear sirens coming closer. The woman grabbed her face and forced her to look into her eyes._

_"Ok baby, I need you to listen to me very closely. Mommy has to go away for a while, so I want you to hide. Hide until you don't hear anyone in the house, then go out and find someone who will love you as much as I do." Kyra began crying, and her mother kissed her forehead and hurried her into a crawlspace in the floor of a closet._

_"Shhh, you have to be very quiet and brave for me, ok little one? Shhh, here's your favorite bear, shh, don't cry, I'll find you someday, I promise." That was the last time she ever saw her mother, and the first of many empty promises in her life._

_

* * *

_

_Riddick:_

_He began to run through visions of his own life. Like a vile Midas, everything he touched turned to ash and faded away. All his memories turned to a stone cold armor around him, keeping him safe and alive. He couldn't be caged, even if he went to slam, they couldn't close him in. He cut fence every time. He was all animal now, like a jaguar trapped in a man's body. Only worse. He was conscious and calculating. He was an animal aware of his place in the world, knowing he was at the top in the grand scheme of things, knowing the lives around him could be at his disposal if he so desired._

_Suddenly, he was back on that hellish planet again, face to face with one of those wretched creatures. He stared into its eyes, and for the first time ever he found coldness and menacing that closely mirrored his own. It drove a stake through his icy heart to think that he was anything like these… things. Unfeeling, deadened, just going through the world feeding on one life after another. He heard an echo of Carolyn's voice around him:_

_"There must be some part of you that wants to rejoin the human race."_

_Then he saw Jack's face, the look in her eyes when he had come back for her and Imam. It was a look of hope, of knowing that everything was going to be okay, even though he himself wasn't sure. A child's naiveté in a woman's eyes._

_Now he heard the sweet sound of tiny bells, and when he turned toward the sound he found himself in a large hallway. He looked around bewildered. He felt something slither into his hand and looked to see himself as a small boy, bright hazel eyes smiling up at him with amusement. He wore a white suit accented with golden dangles and bells._

_"She's here, come with me." The boy whispered. He led him quickly down hallway after hallway until they reached a doorway, and then he disappeared. Riddick walked closer, moving into the doorway he had to take a step back and he held his breath from what he saw. Instead of a room, it was simply an abyss, a void where walls and ceiling and floor should have been. It was the loneliest feeling place in the world. There was another door across the room from him, he noticed. A figure appeared, it was Kyra._

_

* * *

_

_Kyra:_

_She felt a rocking sensation now, and she opened her eyes to see that she was on a tiny boat. She looked around seeing only clouds and fog. The water around her was so still and black it was like looking into an obsidian mirror. She started to hear words and pulled her knees up to her chest trying to comfort herself._

_"Oooh, look at that little slice. How much for her?" An older man's voice. "Come here, little one, it'll only hurt for a minute." Wicked laughter._

_"You little whore, I'll show you to take my hospitality for granted." This time a woman, one who had slaved her out to any paying customer._

_"You're such an ugly little shit, no wonder your parents didn't want you." One of her foster mothers now._

_"Look at the new little bitch, let's show her what happens to little bitches in here." A girl she used to room with in the group home. More wicked laughter._

_"Did you run away from your parents or did they run away from you?" That chickenshit bastard Paris from the Hunter-Gratzner. Kyra covered her ears trying to block out the sounds and words around her._

_Suddenly she was trapped beneath the shield again. One of those creatures was on top trying to break its way through to her. 'This is the end, my only friend,' she thought of a song she'd heard once. Suddenly the weight lifted, she heard the creature screech, then the snap of bone. She looked up and found Riddick standing over the thing. He turned his head to her._

_"Did not know who he was fuckin' with."_

_She got up and to her surprise she was standing in the middle of a large hallway and Riddick was gone. 'What the fuck?' she wondered. She heard the sound of little bells and she looked up. She was staring into the bright laughing green eyes of herself as a small child. She was dressed in a beautiful white dress accented with tiny golden dangles and bells so that she jingled delicately when she moved._

_"Follow me, he's this way." The little girl whispered and ran away. Kyra ran after her down the hall, following the sound. She turned a corner, then another. Kyra followed until they reached a doorway and the girl disappeared. She stepped to the door and found nothing. Really, there was nothing beyond the door, no ceiling or floor or walls, just… nothing. A void in space itself it seemed like. However when she looked up she saw another door across from her, and in it stood Riddick._

* * *

_They stared at each other across the abyss, and though he looked on her expressionlessly, she was unafraid. Her eyes shone with defiance, daring him to believe in her and love her. She saw the animal in him and did not care, which was something he'd never come across. She saw the hurt and the pain and the anger and simply took no heed._

_His eyes softened and began to fill with warmth she'd never seen before. He had never felt anything like it. He could feel the animal in him being soothed by her, not tamed, just contented. Only she could make him feel this way. She made him…feel._

_This truth of feeling radiated from him suddenly and she felt it wash over her like warm waves from an ocean. As though by some unspoken agreement, they both backed up as far as they could go then ran forward, launching into the abyss toward each other. They grappled onto each other, once again locking eyes. There was no fear, only love and understanding. They fell…_

* * *

Kyra blinked, then blinked again, hardly able to make her eyes focus. She felt drugged. She blinked again, and a voice filled her ears.

"Kyra? Hey, you okay?" It was Jonas. She looked toward his voice and through the haze around her eyes she saw him looking at her with concern.

"Wha… what the fuck?" She groaned. She was stiff, and achy. Then something hit her, "We're not in trouble are we?" she asked, quickly remembering the circumstances in which he was to awaken them. Jonas chuckled.

"Glad to see your memory's not faulty. No we're not in trouble, but we are almost to Ajilon." He moved out of her sight and she heard him flipping switches or something of the like. She tried to stand, but her legs failed her and she fell to the deck of the skiff.

"Careful there, you've been under for four months, you're gunna be a little shaky for a while. Just sit." Jonas helped her back up into her station. Just then she heard a groan from across the skiff. Riddick was coming to as well. Suddenly, she heard a clang and Jonas gasped in surprise. She looked up, able to focus better now, and saw Riddick standing with his hand around Jonas' throat pinning the man to the roof of the skiff. He was disoriented, his eyes were wild and she almost didn't recognize them. He caught Kyra's eyes and though he didn't seem to recognize her he released his grip on Jonas and fell back down into his station.

"Are you ok, Riddick?" Kyra asked him carefully. He said nothing.

He was dizzy and felt weak, which was a new feeling for him. He couldn't remember where he was or why he was there. He looked around anxiously, trying to identify his surroundings. He found Kyra's eyes again and everything came flooding back to him; New Mecca, the transport ship, Jonas, Toombs, the showers, the kiss, the dog fight with the merc ship and finally the feeling of being dragged down into his own consciousness, the cryosleep. It almost stole his breath away. Kyra's eyes were still filled with worry.

"I'm alright now," he said. Kyra looked at him skeptically, "Really."

"Ahem. Well glad to see you both slept well. Had good dreams I hope?" Piped Jonas. The two looked at him, then back at each other.

Kyra felt as though she was missing something important, something buried somewhere in her subconscious now. Something covered in a thin film she could almost see, but not. Riddick too felt he should remember something, but nothing would come past where the cryosleep needle had gone in his arm.

"I don't know if I had good dreams or not, I don't think I dreamt at all." Kyra said solemnly. Riddick nodded as well. Jonas just shrugged.

"Well, we've got about a week until we get there. Figured you guys could use the time to recoup." Jonas began filling them both in on all the little things they'd missed out on over the last four months. He was happy to have the company, since he'd been all alone for four months. Kyra and Riddick listened only half-heartedly, each trying to remember something from the dreams they were sure they'd had, something that nagged at them whenever they met the other's eyes.

* * *

(A/N: There will be more about what Jonas did with his time in the next chapter, so stay tuned!) 


	11. Coming Home

First off, many many THANK YOUS to all my reviewers! God I love you guys. breaks into song You are the wind beneath my… oops, sorry, hehe. DOUBLE THANK YOUS to everyone who has stuck with me from chapter 1! I'll be the first to admit this chapter is kinda boring. It's necessary though so stick it out and Chapter12 is already in the works, I promise. Most of this is in Jonas' POV, not saying Jonas is boring, he'll have his shining moments later on.

As always, review review review! Oh yeah, and REVIEW! (Please?) I need feedback, like if I could do anything differently, what would it be? I tend to miss my own plot holes, so if you find any let me know so I can fix them!

Another note, and I'm sure you guys are tired of my shameless self advertising, but there's a brand new topic on my Riddick forum that I would love to see replies to! ;o)

Okay, that's enough from me. trumpet sounds On with the show!

Disclaimer: I just own the plot, and Jonas, and anyone else you may not know from the movies. PLEASE DON'T SUE ME! It wouldn't be worth it :oP.

* * *

Jonas noticed a few things about Kyra and Riddick since they'd come to. One was that his traveling companions regarded each other differently now than before they had gone under. There was still an uneasiness between them, but the immeasurable tension that had plagued them before was no longer so apparent. Another thing was that they were both much worse company now, keeping to themselves mostly and barely uttering two words in his direction. After four months of being for all intents and purposes alone, all Jonas wanted to do was talk, especially to get feedback on why he felt this overwhelming anxiety about going back to the only place he'd ever called home. It wasn't much help that all the two of them wanted was to be left alone. This left him in a quandary; how to talk without taking his life into his own hands. 

On the last day before arriving at Ajilon, Jonas found Kyra lounging in the copilot's seat, cheerless eyes distantly following the tiny bit of thread she twirled between her fingers. He thought about just leaving her be, but when he turned to walk away she spoke up.

"I don't bite, you know," she said without taking her eyes off the thread.

"I know, I just thought you'd want to be left alone. That's all both of you have wanted lately." His voice betrayed his dejected state of mind. Kyra looked up at him and nodded at the pilot's seat, inviting him to sit. He took the invite and sat down, giving Kyra his full attention. It took her a moment but finally she spoke.

"I feel strange, like there's something about what I saw while I was under that I should remember distinctly. Like I'm missing something. Something significant, you know?" Jonas nodded, unsure of what to say, he just let her keep going, "It's something to do with Riddick and it's important, I can feel it whenever I look at him. It's really frustrating, like it should be obvious and it's not." She never took her eyes off the thread out of fear that Jonas might see the tears confined in her eyes.

The way she spoke told him she didn't expect an answer, she just wanted to let it out. He didn't have a good answer for her anyway. There was silence for a moment, then Jonas sighed, and then sighed again a little more exaggeratedly.

"What's on _your_ mind?" Kyra finally asked, getting the hint.

"Well, I'm having conflicted feelings about going home, actually," Jonas answered hastily, happy to finally be able to get it off his chest. His uneasiness about returning had been pent up for so long it just kind of rushed out of him all at once as he spoke like the air out of a cut tire. Kyra looked up at him surprised.

"I would have thought you'd be ecstatic about it."

"Well, part of me is, but the other part is terrified of all the people I'll see and the memories it will dig up." Jonas said sadly. Kyra thought on it for a moment.

"A wise man once told me-" Jonas gave her a funny look, "I'm serious, he really is a wise man. Anyway, a wise man told me that memories are the reminders of who we are, and where we came from. They remind us of the things we've been through so that we know what we can take on in the future. Does that help?" She asked, a little amazed at how wise she herself sounded. 'Thank you Imam,' she thought. Jonas chewed on her words for a moment.

"Yeah, I guess. Thanks."

* * *

The next day they were within contact range of Ajilon, so Jonas decided to call ahead to reserve a bay for the _Gash _(Get Away Shit Heap, affectionately abbreviated since the thing had gotten them out of more than one pinch relatively unharmed.) He went to hail the docking bay at Ramistad, the capital city from which they would commute to his rebuilt hometown, but he hesitated. He had looked very different growing up on Ajilon, and that was the man they would expect to see now. This was going to suck. 

Kyra heard a cry from the front of the skiff and dropped the diagnostic screen she was working with to check on Jonas. She could hear breath coming in short bursts between pained groans. She was stunned as she came upon a blonde head sitting in the pilot's seat. She almost went for her shiv.

"Jonas?" she said cautiously. He turned his head slightly toward her and she gasped.

He was sexy! Longish blonde hair, the same limpid blue eyes, his skin was darker as well and you could see the tone of his muscles beneath it now. He was taller too, it seemed. Kyra's eyes went wide.

"Wow," was all she could manage.

'Shame on you,' she scolded inwardly.

'What?' she defended, 'It's not my fault he's hot now.' She shook the reaction off as she realized he was obviously still in pain.

"Are you alright?" she asked, moving to his side.

"Ahh, yeah." Even his voice was different now, richer. "It hurts a bit when I extend my bone structure, especially when I've been one height for a while. I gotta do the other leg though." Kyra looked down and realized that one leg was indeed shorter than the other by about two inches. The sight of it made her stomach flip flop a little.

"Is there anything I can do?" she asked, seating herself in the copilot's seat next to him. Jonas smiled a little; Kyra noticed that it was a much more attractive smile now. 'This could be interesting,' she thought.

'Bad girl,' she scolded again.

"Yeah actually, just sit with me. Unless you have a weak stomach." Jonas grinned. Kyra nodded. It was a simple enough request.

"Like I could have a weak stomach hanging out with _him_." Kyra answered lightly, referring to the convict in the back. Jonas grinned, and then closed his eyes and took on a somber expression, like he was deep in thought. Suddenly he grimaced and clinched his jaw, and Kyra cringed a bit as she heard the unmistakable sounds of bone breaking.

"Ahhh SHIT SHIT SHIT!" Jonas swore. There were more _pops_ and _cracks_, and Kyra's stomach turned a little more as she watched as his left leg extended to match the length of the right. Kyra watched his knuckles turn white as he gripped the armrest of the pilot's chair. He growled deeply. There was another sickening _crunch _and he let out one last sharp cry, then relaxed, panting heavily.

"God, is it over? Are you okay?" She asked cautiously.

"Yeah, it's done, the bone just has to finish knitting and I'll be okay." He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, "Damnit, I'll never get used to that."

"I thought it didn't hurt anymore?"

"Not when I soften up. When I have to alter my bone structure, that's different. That hurts like hell. That's the crappy part of being only _half _Changling. _Almost_ complete molecular control, _almost_ not painful." He winced again, as if to prove his point.

"Why did you have to change anyway?" she asked curiously.

"This is what the Jonas that grew up here would look like now. What few people are left that I grew up around wouldn't recognize me otherwise. There's only one person on this planet that knows what I am. She was my best friend up until the day I left." Kyra nodded. She thought she saw Jonas' bright blue eyes darken a bit but she caught motion out of the corner of her eye and turned to see Riddick emerging from the back of the skiff. He stopped short when he saw the blonde hair, and looked at Kyra questioningly.

"It's Jonas, I swear," she told him with a smirk. Riddick only grunted and turned back around toward the back of the skiff. Jonas noticed a troubled look cross her face briefly.

"You guys will figure it out, I know it," he told her quietly. Kyra smiled a little, knowing he was probably right. It hurt a little in the meantime though.

Soon after, Jonas got on the horn.

"Attention Ramistad docking station, come in." Suddenly the vid screen popped on and a chunky older man appeared.

"This is Ramistad docking command, Anisi speaking, what can we do for you?" The man's voice was gruffer than Kyra would have thought.

"This is Jonas Salazar of the _Gash _giving notice of intent to dock in minus five hours. Can you have a bay ready for us?"

"Ah, negative _Gash_, we are all full up, you'll have to redirect-" the man was suddenly pushed out of his seat. There were sounds of a scuffle in the background, some yelling, and suddenly another man appeared on the screen. He was thinner than the first; red hair, big gray eyes, with a neatly trimmed beard and mustache framing a small mouth. Said gray eyes were alight as he stared into the vid screen with wonder. Jonas and Kyra only looked at each other.

"Jonas? Jonas fucking Salazar? Is that really you?" Jonas thought the man looked familiar but couldn't place him.

"Yeah. Who are you?" The man grew even more excited.

"Hot DAMN! I never thought I'd see your ass ever again! It's me, Soli!" Jonas' eyes lit up instantly.

"Holy shit! Soli it is you, isn't it?" Jonas was obviously happy to see the man. Knowing someone on a docking station generally made things go more smoothly. Especially with their 'special' circumstances. Soli had been one of Jonas' closer friends growing up, not the closest, but closer than most.

"What the fuck are you doing at the docking station?" Jonas asked astonished. Soli took on a haughty expression.

"It's _my_ docking station, _I'm_ the senior controller here. All the departures and docks go through me." Soli sounded entirely too proud about this fact.

"No shit! They must've really been hard up for people if they put you in charge." Jonas poked at him. The two only laughed. "So what's up, are you guys really full up or is there room for one more?"

"Ahh, we can squeeze you in, what's your ETA?"

"Maybe five hours, probably less. We've got some body damage, and only one engine. Got a mechanic on hand?"

"Yeah, I can rustle one up. How many on board?" Kyra shot Jonas a look. It's not like he could tell this man exactly whom he had on board. That might not go over so well. Little did she know Jonas already had it covered.

"I got two friends with me. They're migrant workers taking a break. Thought I'd come home for a while, show 'em the sights. You know."

"No prob, they'll have to go through clearance, but we can talk about that when you get here." Once again, Kyra shot Jonas a look. Jonas squirmed uneasily.

"Yeah, we need to have a little conversation about that, out." And with that Jonas cut the signal.

"Clearance?" Riddick's voice came from behind Jonas, nearly making him jump out of his skin.

"Don't worry, I got it." Jonas was sure he had it, he just wasn't sure how yet.

* * *

They were cleared for landing four and a half hours later. Their final approach to the docking station nearly took Kyra's breath away. She had never seen so much green on one planet. It was dotted with lights from the smaller towns and cities and it was even more beautiful in the rising sun. They passed a mountain range and nestled in the valley beyond was a huge spread of lights, Ramistad. The lights twinkled up like the stars themselves were being mirrored in a jeweled lake. 'Beautiful,' Kyra thought. It was reminiscent of her first landing in New Mecca, but she couldn't afford to think about that now. 

They docked at the designated bay without incident and Jonas lowered the ramp and stepped off the skiff into the awaiting fist of his old friend.

"OW! Soli what the fuck was that for?" he asked, putting a hand to his jaw.

"THAT was for leaving eight years ago, THIS is for coming back!" Soli threw his arms around Jonas giving him a much-needed hug and pat on the back. 'It's good to be home,' Jonas thought absently. Kyra stepped out of the skiff next, much to the surprise of Jonas' friend whose big eyes and little mouth gaped open.

"Heeelloooo," Soli was all but drooling on himself at the sight of her, "And who might this lovely lady be?" he asked, quickly letting go of Jonas and offering a hand to Kyra as she walked down the gangway. Jonas only grinned knowing she would surely set him straight.

"I am lovely, but I'm no lady. The name's Kyra." She shook Soli's offered hand, making him wince a little with her grip.

"Ah, I _like_ strong women," Soli was in love… and then came Riddick. His eyes went wide as he looked over the massive man before him.

"And this is…?" He asked eyeing Jonas suspiciously.

"Yeah, this is the little conversation we need to have… in private?" Jonas nodded toward Soli's office.

"Yeah, I can see that. Uh, make yourselves at home; there are coffee and pastry type things over there. After you Jonas." Soli motioned for Jonas to lead the way. The two walked briskly to Soli's office in the corner of the docking bay.

Soli shut the door, making sure to bolt it behind them so as not to be disturbed. He sat behind his desk folding his hands on the surface authoritatively.

"Well, you look good Jonas." Soli began lightly.

"Yeah, eight years does a lot." Jonas ran a hand through his now blonde hair and almost giggled at the thought that six hours ago he'd looked very different.

"Yeah it does. Did you ever accomplish your mission? You know, the whole revenge thing?" Soli asked. Jonas looked down.

"No, actually. Something else got to Johns before I could." Jonas left out the part about wasting the last four years.

"Too bad. At least he bit it, though, even if you didn't get to do it." Jonas nodded. There was a moment of silence between the men. Then, Soli spoke up again, obviously not happy.

"So what really brings you back, Jonas? And who the fuck is that enormous man out there who oddly resembles someone I've seen on a wanted bulletin before!"

"Calm down Soli. You don't need to know who he is officially, just that he's a friend, a very good friend." Jonas looked down. "Look, we're in some trouble with someone nasty. We just need to lay low, figure out a game plan. A month, that's all I ask. Give me that, Soli, please." Soli rubbed at his eyes wearily.

"You're asking me to go out on a limb that isn't here anymore, Jonas. Is he dangerous? Because if anything happens shit rolls downhill, ya know! I could get arrested for even letting him pass through my station without telling someone. And I would hate to end up in a shit storm because of you after all this time." Soli sighed, "I still love you like a little brother Jonas, but goddamn it things just aren't the same anymore. In fact, they're so different it's like a whole other planet now." Soli seemed deeply troubled by this, Jonas noticed. There was quiet for a moment.

"Have you seen Sariah lately?" Jonas asked hopefully. Soli chuckled.

"I wondered how long it was going to be before you brought her up. She was here in Ramistad for a while going to school. Last I heard she dropped out and went back home and was getting married. Not to you, obviously." Jonas grunted.

Sariah had been the only person to whom he'd entrusted his secret. They had been inseparable when they were little and for years afterward. They looked out for each other and had vowed that some day after Jonas was a military hero and Sariah was a famous scientist they would get married and live happily ever after. 'So much for that,' Jonas thought bitterly. She had begged him to stay after the massacre, but he just couldn't. He had to find the fucker that destroyed his life… all their lives.

He thought of her yelling at him at the transport dock before he left.

_"Jonas dammit! Do you think this is what she would have wanted? Her son being controlled by his thirst for vengeance? Stay with me, please, help us rebuild and help quell your anger with what we create in the wake of destruction." She sounded so desperate, but all he'd done was sneer at her._

_"You talk about her like you know she's already dead Sariah! There's a chance she's still alive, I have to take it!" He turned to walk down the passage to the transport shuttle._

_"If you leave here, Jonas Michael Salazar, I swear to everything holy and true that I will never forgive you! If you go, don't ever come find me again." Her words had made him pause for a moment in the passage. He knew she meant it by her tone, but he didn't care. If she couldn't understand, it was her own damn fault._

"Yeah, she's turned into a power whore, I don't even know her anymore." Soli brought Jonas back to the present.

"Watch your mouth, man. How could you say that about her?" Jonas was amazed at the callousness in Soli's voice regarding their old friend.

"It's true! Tobias Rothchild's dear old dad practically spoon fed him the whole goddamned town when he died and she's right there next to him eating it up."

"What do you mean?"

"You know how Toby's dad was one of the chief Council members, right? Well, he died shortly after they finished rebuilding, and he left his seat on the Council to Tobias. Big mistake, he was waaaaay too young. The power went straight to his head. He abolished the Council by convincing the people that it played a major hand in the massacre, even his dad. He planned it so he ended up being declared Dictator in the end. He's practically got his own damned religion now." Jonas' jaw fell.

"You're shitting me."

"Fuck, I wish. He controls everything, trade, labor, farming, mining, you name it. That's why I moved here, I couldn't take it anymore, but he's got his eye on the Capitol House too. He's into some dangerous shit man, he's fucking untouchable."

"Like what?" Jonas asked. Soli looked around as though someone might be listening. He leaned in over his desk a little.

"I don't know all of it, but it's bad, whatever it is." Soli leaned back, obviously uncomfortable with the subject, so Jonas changed it.

"So they did finish rebuilding though?"

"Yeah, no thanks to you. They renamed the town Lazarus like it's some tribute." Soli snorted.

"I-" Jonas started but Soli cut him off.

"You know, Jonas, everyone lost someone that day. Some lost more than others, but _everyone… lost…_ _someone_." Soli rose from his seat and headed for the door but stopped and looked at Jonas, "You've got as long as the repairs take, probably two weeks. No more, no less. Then you're on your own."

A moment later the two men emerged from the office, Soli headed one direction, and Jonas headed back toward the skiff.

"What do you think?" Kyra asked Riddick quietly. He thought for a moment. Though Jonas and Soli tried to be hush about their conversation, words like 'dangerous' and 'arrested' had still drifted into Riddick's ears.

"I think you should be ready to grab the shiv I know you've got on you somehwere, just in case." Riddick muttered anxiously.

"Well there's good news and bad news. Which do you want first?" The look Jonas got from both of them said it didn't matter. "Okay, he'll take care of the clearance matters, but…" he paused for effect, "we've only got two weeks covered, then it's out of his hands, if you get my drift." Jonas could tell this wasn't what Riddick wanted to hear.

"What all did you tell him?" he growled ominously.

"Relax, I told him that we got into some trouble and needed to lay low for a while." Riddick didn't look convinced. "Let's not look a gift horse in the mouth, okay? Soli's a good guy, he'll do right." Riddick was still obviously not pleased, but he held on well considering. Soli came back.

"Here," he handed Jonas three clearance cards, "They're good for two weeks. If you guys get into trouble," Soli leaned closer to Jonas "you did _not _come through here, alright?"

Jonas thanked his friend profusely, knowing it would be the last favor he would ever get from Soli.

* * *

**Pssst… Review! Just a reminder ;o)**


	12. Revelations

Hidey Ho! Thank you thank you thank you thank you and thank you some more to all my wonderful reviewers! smooches to all

This chapter was REALLY hard for me to write, since so much of it is based on the things inside Riddick's head. REVIEW PLEASE and lemme know if I got any of it right. The end is a little fluffier than I would have normally done it, but I'm PMSing so … yeah. ANYHOO let me know if I should redo this or what.

Disclaimer: Standard, I only own the plot and the shit you don't recognize. Everything else is someone else's.

* * *

The three booked passage on a ferry called the _Vesper _that ran between Ramistad and various cities and small towns along the Kadiok River. After being crammed together on the _Gash_ for so long the spacious first class cabin was a welcomed change. There were two bedrooms, each about the size of the _Gash's _interior, a large den-like common area with a small coffee table, plush couch and vid screen. Normally they would have chosen a lesser cabin to lay low in, but the general consensus between them this time was comfort over camouflage. They were in no immediate danger, and having bought themselves some time the space was greatly appreciated. The _Vesper _wasn't a cruise liner by any stretch of the imagination, but it had it's own restaurant, lounge, gym and temple for those with religious inclinations. Kyra and Jonas decided to go out and explore and invited Riddick to come with them to the lounge, or the gym, anything to get him up and out. He seemed so… so dismal, even for him. He'd gone so far as to lock himself in his room shortly after arriving at their cabin. Kyra tried begging, pleading, yelling and threatening through his door and finally had to give up before her head exploded out of frustration with him.

"Fine you… you big stupid baby! Just stay in there and fucking ROT!" She yelled kicking the door and frowning deeply. Jonas could have sworn he saw a deep despair flit across her face, but it was gone before he could tell for sure. He and Kyra left Riddick lying in his room in the dark, awake but deep in thought.

The days since he'd awoken from cryosleep had been uneasy at best, mostly around Kyra. In fact, he had been avoiding her like a plague because of it. He knew it was bothering her, but he also knew it was for the best. 'It's always best to stay away,' he thought bitterly.

There was this wretched feeling in the pit of his stomach every time he looked at her. Something about her in what he saw while he was under was eating away at his insides, something that unsettled his inner animal. It really pissed him off because he didn't know what it was, and he didn't want to take his anger out on Kyra because that would only drive the wedge further in between them. Deep down, whether he would admit it or not, that was the last thing he wanted. If he could only remember what he had seen that had to do with her. Almost everything else about the dreams had come back to him slowly bit by bit. As much as it hurt, he would replay them over and over again one at a time in his mind, trying to recall some other little detail that would trigger the rest of it to come forth, to no avail.

Things were just so complicated, so conflicted. He knew he shouldn't dodge her, but he did. He knew he should go to her about this feeling he had, but he didn't. He hoped it would all resolve itself eventually, but it wouldn't. As it always seemed to be, force would be necessary. He would rather just leave, in all honesty. Find the next shuttle off this rock and get the fuck out of here, before bad things happened to good people. He couldn't bring himself to do that either. He hated himself for hesitating when it came to her, one of these days it would get him killed. He knew if it were anyone else, anyone at all, he would hold no qualms about fleeing. There would never be a second thought. But this was Jack, even if she wasn't Jack anymore. He hadn't been able to leave her on that God forsaken planet five years ago, he couldn't leave her in New Mecca after she found out he was "dead", and he sure as hell couldn't leave her now.

After mulling for what seemed like hours, he was pretty pissed at himself for being such a puss. He felt like yelling, thrashing and breaking things. He sat up, looking for something to throw, or smash, anything to get rid of this . He looked around and however elaborately decorated the room was, everything that wasn't his was bolted down, frustrating him further.

'Maybe I should get out after all,' he thought with a wicked grin, grabbing a small towel and heading for the gym.

* * *

Kyra and Jonas sat in comfortable silence at a small table in the lounge, nursing drinks and listening to the music that was being generated by a man sitting at a small, piano looking device on stage. The melody was low and slow and Kyra imagined if there had been words to it they would be about confusion or longing or unrequited love. Ironic really.

Jonas too was quietly contemplating, lost in thoughts of Sariah and others in his past. What _was_ he getting himself into? What the fuck was he going to do?

"Penny for your thoughts?" Kyra asked offhandedly, bringing Jonas out of his reverie. She had noticed the distance in his bright blue eyes and was curious as to what brought it on.

"Huh?"

"Penny for your thoughts?" He only looked at her puzzled, "What? You've never heard that before?"

"No actually, I haven't, what does it mean?" Jonas asked. Kyra chuckled at him.

"Basically it means what are you thinking. I'm not exactly sure where it came from, but it's an Old Earth saying."

"Ahh. I get it… I think." Jonas looked a bit thrown off by the comment, but he recovered quickly, "Well, to answer your question, I'm thinking about my friend, Sariah, and some things Soli told me about her that are bothering me a lot." Jonas looked down.

"What did he say?"

"He said that she basically turned into this cold hearted power monger, and she's supposed to marry this man that is stopping at nothing to take control of the whole government. There must be something wrong with her because she was never like that when I knew her. I'm just wondering what could've happened after I left to make her that way." Jonas took a big swallow of his screwdriver and grimaced a little, "What are you thinking about?" Kyra drank a bit of her rum and cola before answering.

"Ten guesses, and the first nine don't count," she said darkly. Jonas nodded, really not even needing one guess. Riddick. "I'm worried about him. Ever since he woke up he's been … I don't know… different. He's always been … unsociable is the nicest way I can put it I guess." Jonas raised his eyebrows as if to say 'you must be joking' and Kyra smiled, "I know, that's the understatement of the millennium, right? But now it's like he's totally shutting me out, and it's kind of scary. We _were_ getting closer, but now…" Kyra trailed off.

"I see. You know, he could be trying to protect you from something." Jonas pointed out.

"Yeah, but I don't want to be protected." Kyra replied bluntly.

"Then what _do_ you want?" Jonas asked. He'd meant the question as a rhetorical one, but it got Kyra thinking. What did she want? The silence between them resumed as they finished their drinks. After a moment Kyra looked up as though she'd had an epiphany. The look in her eyes was one Jonas had never seen there before, one of mischief.

"You know what we need to do? We need to get so smashed that we don't give a rat's ass about anything. I'm talking totally, utterly hammered. Completely under the influence. Sound good to you?"

"I guess," Jonas replied, slightly taken aback by her suggestion. He'd never pegged Kyra as much of the drinking sort. He wasn't sure it was such a good idea, but how could he say no when she put it like that? Kyra hollered at the bartender.

"Hey! Surprise shots for me and my good friend here, and keep 'em coming until we hit the floor!"

* * *

Some time later, after scaring a few people and very nearly breaking several pieces of equipment, Riddick returned to the cabin, sweaty and a little tired, but otherwise still in his unpleasant state of mind. The nagging feeling he had wouldn't go away. No matter how hard he'd punched, it kept returning on the windup, so he gave up. He stripped and hit the shower, making sure to lock the door this time. He tried thinking of other things now, like the water flowing over him… or the kiss he and Kyra had shared before the dogfight with the merc ship. 'Yeah, think about that for a while,' he thought to himself with a wicked grin. He closed his eyes and imagined her body pressed up against his, her mouth devouring his own, her scent and heat enveloping him. He felt his body responding to his thoughts of her and leaned back against the shower wall to let them take over completely. He reached down as though his hands had their own plans for his body, but his thoughts were interrupted by a loud _crash_ from the den area. He growled and turned off the water, wrapping a towel around his waist and poked his head out the door to see the cabin door wide open, and Jonas and Kyra sitting on top of the now broken coffee table in the center of the room, laughing hysterically.

"What the fuck?" he asked, but he got only odd looks from the two and more laughter in return. Then the scent of alcohol flooded his nostrils. They were both shit-faced drunk!

"OOOh, lookie lookie, it's the b-big b-bad wollfff. OH no _hiccup_ fleeeee!" Kyra slurred and fell over holding her gut and laughing harder. Riddick growled and stepped into his bedroom to dress.

"Seee J-Jonas? He even gggrowls like the bbig bbad wooolf!" He heard her taunting him from the other room. This was not going to help his mood at all he had a feeling. As he slipped his pants on he heard Kyra in the den trying to talk to Jonas, but he could tell the conversation was all one-sided. Jonas hadn't seemed like the type that could hold his liquor. Riddick's suspicions were confirmed as he peeked out and saw Jonas flopped on the couch fast asleep and Kyra teetering in the center of the room looking at him crossly. Riddick rolled his eyes and turned back into his room to throw a shirt on. Suddenly the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he didn't have to turn to know that Kyra was standing in the doorway watching him, studying him. He'd had the same feeling in the showers that day four months ago.

"Enjoying the view?" he asked curtly.

"Mmm, how could I not? You're just so damn sexy," she said, her voice dripping with drunken desire. This was going to be a test. She swaggered into the door and moved closer to him, nearly falling over when she stopped short behind him. He went to put his shirt on, but she put a hand on his shoulder and he stopped and turned to look at her. The lust was oozing from her eyes, and Riddick groaned as he could once again feel his body responding to her. Her scent mixed with the liquor and amplified by her warmth was intoxicating. He shook his head to clear his mind.

"Let's get you to bed huh?" He kept his voice as even as he could, but she was making it hard for him (no pun intended).

"Hmmm, as long as it's your bed." She replied as seductively as she could manage in her current state. She slid her arms around his neck and stared up at him, licking her lips. She went to kiss him but he turned his head. Although part of him screamed to just take her and ravage her like she obviously wanted, the rest of him knew it wasn't right. This was Jack, and if and when _that _did happen, he wanted them _both_ sober for it. He did have scruples, at least when it came to her. He took her arms from around his neck.

"Kyra, you're drunk. Really, really drunk. So let's get you into _your _bed so you can sleep this off and we'll talk in the morning, alright?" He was amazed at how collected he sounded. She backed away and started to waver to the right, but when he went to put hands on her shoulders to steady her she jumped away as though he'd tried to attack her.

"Don't you fucking touch me!" She yelled, glaring at him fiercely. 'This is a switch,' he thought with minor annoyance.

"Hey, don't be like that. I just wanted to help; you need to go to bed. I don't know how much you drank, but it was obviously too much." He took a step toward her, and she jumped back again, catching herself on the doorframe as she almost tripped.

"You're not my dad. In fact, you're not anything, you're just like the rest of _them_." She spat at him, missing his foot my mere inches. He looked at the small puddle next to his foot wide eyed and then back up at her, baffled by her actions.

"Oooh woman, if you were _anyone_ else…" He growled. She only looked at him wildly. Her balls were getting a little too big for his liking tonight. "Kyra goddammit, you need to stop this crap before you really piss me off. Go to bed!" He felt like he was yelling at a child now, when only moments ago she'd made it painfully clear she was all woman.

"Fuck off, you'll have to catch me first!" She sprang out the bedroom door, and ran for the front door and almost got it open, but Riddick managed to jump in front of her and hold it shut. They locked eyes and he wasn't sure he recognized hers now. It was strange, but the shining green orbs he was seeing now didn't look at all like the one's he knew. These were full of rage and distrust.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!" he yelled at her, but she didn't break his stare, didn't flinch or even blink. She moved, this time rolling backwards, grabbing a chunk of coffee table leg, arming herself and crouching on the floor ready to pounce.

"You're just like all the others!" she said darkly. "You don't give a damn about me, you'd probably kill me if you had the chance."

"You must have me confused with someone else, I've never…" He was going to say he'd never done anything to hurt her, but that would have been a lie. He changed the subject, "Just who the fuck are _they_ anyway?"

"_They _are everyone I've ever known!" She yelled and came at him.

Like an idiot he lunged at her, thinking she was too drunk to evade him, but she sprang upwards and he crashed into the remains of the coffee table on the floor.

"Ahhh! GODDAMMIT!" He yelled as he landed on the splintered wood. This was getting out of hand. He didn't know what the fuck had gotten into her all of a sudden, but it had to stop. Like now. He rolled to his back as Kyra landed over him, one foot on either side of his ribcage, the chunk of wood held high over her head and ready to come down. She paused for a moment, panting and staring at him wildly. She roared and started to bring the wood down at Riddick's head, but he reached up wrapping both arms around her knees, buckling them and simultaneously sitting up so that she ended up flat on her back on the floor and he was leaning on her. She started thrashing and screaming. Riddick got the wood out of the way and got her arms down, wrapping his own arms around her in an iron grip.

"Knock that shit off!" He yelled at her.

She roared and fought and kicked and yelled with everything in her, struggling to break free of his unyielding grip around her upper torso. Suddenly she went limp under him, and tears filled her emerald eyes. He could see the rage there retreating and being replaced by a deep sorrow. It hit him then. _He_ was causing this. _His_ distance was crushing her.

"Are you back with me?" he asked cautiously. She nodded slightly, now sober for the most part. She looked away not wanting Riddick to see the tears fall. He could still see them trickling across her temple into her hair, and the sight made all his anger dissolve away. 'Pussy,' he thought. He stood, and when she ignored his offered hand, he bent down and scooped her up in his arms. She started to protest, but the look he shot her stopped her. He carried her to her bedroom, laying her on the bed. He sat on the edge of the bed next to her, looking down and folding his hands in his lap like a priest at mass. It almost scared her that he was so calm now after what just happened.

"What did you see while you were down, do you remember any of it?" he asked quietly. She was silent for a bit, he almost thought she hadn't heard him. Then she spoke softly.

"I saw a lot, mostly things about my past. I saw my mother shoot my father in the head and then leave me," her voice wavered, but she went on, "I was all alone on a tiny boat in black water listening to voices I remembered telling me I was worthless, and unloved. I was back on that fucking planet with one of those things trying to eat me, and then… there you were. You killed it, you saved me. That's it."

She looked over at his form sitting silent and unmoving as a statue on the edge of her bed.

"That's it?" he finally asked. She thought for a moment.

"No, I know there's more, more to do with you, but I can't get to it." She paused for a moment, "What did you see?" The question hung for a moment between them. He didn't want to go through it again, not with her. It was his burden and his alone. Always alone.

"You don't want to know," he said quietly.

Kyra felt his walls go up, and as he rose and walked to the door to leave she felt an overwhelming desperation overtake her.

"Don't do this Riddick, I can't stand it anymore, please don't shut me out," he stopped as she started crying all over again, "Whether you like it or not you're stuck with me and I can't stand this cold shoulder anymore and I know it's hard, but let me in, Riddick, please please let me in. It's so cold without you, please please don't leave me alone like they all left me alone. I lied, you're not like the rest of them, and you know it, please."

He turned and the sight before him melted his entire defense. She was sitting up on the bed, hands folded in her lap, face stained with tears and a look of utter anguish scrawled across it.

"You want to know what I saw? I saw my mother dump me in a trash bin, leaving me to die. I was swimming in a sea of blood and I couldn't get it off no matter how hard I tore at myself." Kyra winced a little at the vision he described, "Everything I touched in my life turned into shit and this animal that I am took over." He stepped closer to her staring into her eyes, forest green clashing with mercury. He was shocked at what he saw. There was no fear in her eyes, but something else. It was familiar somehow and that nagging feeling in the pit of his gut returned.

"Say something!" he demanded. He was weary, and he couldn't take her silence much longer. She said nothing, only pulled him down into the bed with her gently and wrapped her arms tightly around him. She moved her lips to his ear and whispered.

"Thank you."

He wasn't sure why, and for years after he would still wonder, but stayed there and let her hold him the whole night and he slept better then than he ever had before.


	13. Out of Character

Hidey ho! This chapter is named sobecause everyone has an OOC moment or two. This isn't one of my better chapters I don't think. It's short.I might redo this one just for shits, or maybe just remove it altogether. Maybe I'm wrong. PLEASE REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW! I think it's dumb, let me know what you think.

Also, I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who helped me and backed me up with my little **ahem **dilemma last week, **njrd** and **xXxevilgrinxXx** especially for all the great advice. Thank you SO much guys **–BIG HUGS-.** I would like to once again reiterate that all the plot ideas and quite a few of the characters in this story have come from nowhere but my own brain, and any similarities to other's works are purely coincidental. Do I have to start adding that on to my disclaimer? Speaking of which…

Disclaimer: Don't own, **didn't plagiarize**, don't sue.

On with the show! ();o)

* * *

Jonas lay awake for quite some time waiting for the sun to come up, pondering how he'd actually managed to get back to the cabin the night before. He remembered the lounge, and talking with Kyra and what was covered during said talk, and many, many, _many_ shots. After that things got a little fuzzy. He thought he remembered a fight, but it was more like a dream than something he'd actually been a part of. 

In fact, he wasn't sure if it had been his subconscious or the booze but his dreams were riddled with images of Sariah from his childhood; of the schoolyard mayhem they had caused that nearly got them both expelled and the many other ingenuous adventures they'd shared. She had been the Alpha and Omega for him once, the only person he'd ever entrusted his secret to. The only one wanted by his side, more so than any boy he knew. They were so sure they would never be apart, that things would be perfect forever. Naive. A romance had only just begun to bud between them when their town had been massacred and he often found himself wondering what could have been. He had grown into his own since then. He'd been only fifteen when he left and had gone through more shit since than most people his age, present company excluded of course.

He wondered if he would recognize her, although her raven hair andviolet-blueeyes would be hard to miss, not to mention other features that had been well on their way when he left.

He flipped on the vid screen to distract himself from his melancholy train of thought, hoping to catch some news, and hoping at the same time not to find the three of them as a headline. He would hate to have to tell Riddick that Soli didn't keep his end of the bargain. Even more, he would hate to see Soli after Riddick had hunted him down _because _he didn't keep his end of the bargain. He knew full well he hadn't seen the brunt of the bigger man's wrath, and wasn't particularly eager to.

A knock at the cabin door brought him back to his surroundings and when he opened the door a white haired man in a suit with two carts of silver domes greeted him.

"Room service, sir." The server's snooty air was almost enough to make Jonas burst into laughter but he stifled it, concentrating on the trays behind the man.

"What's all this? I didn't order room service." Jonas was astonished, to say the least.

"A Senator's breakfast comes with the cabin, sir." Jonas brought the carts in and, overwhelmed by the smells emanating from them, unintentionally closed the door on the man's tip accepting hand. Jonas didn't have any cash anyway.

It had been far too long since he'd eaten anything but ration packs and dehydrated space food. His mouth watered as he lifted one lid to find a rainbow on a plate. Various melons and berries and other colorful assorted fruits on delicate wooden skewers arranged on the platter. Lifting another silver dome revealed sausage and bacon and some other sort of breakfast meat he wasn't familiar with. 'Whatever, it smells good,' he thought with his stomach speaking up that it was tired of being empty. There were scrambled and soft-boiled eggs (oddly colored as they were, he was hungry enough not to care), biscuits and gravy, some sort of hash, a pono (second cousin to the llama) cheese and grain meal dish, and fresh baked sweet breads. He glanced at the two bedroom doors, wondering if he should wait for his companions or not. There were three carafes, presumably holding juice, milk and coffee; perhaps he would start there. Just then Kyra's door opened.

"Morning sunshine, I- oh," Jonas looked a bit startled, "Riddick, I thought you were Kyra. I, uh," he stammered, "There's food." He pointed to the carts as though Riddick could possibly miss the huge spread in the middle of the room. 'Wow, how much _did_ I miss last night?' Jonas wondered silently.

Riddick grunted. The smell of good food would always rouse him, no matter how tired he was or how much sleep he'd had. Decent, well-prepared meals for him were few and far between so he took full advantage of each one. He sat at the opposite end of the couch staring at the trays of food.

"You want some coffee?" Jonas asked, nodding to one of the carafes on the cart, "You look like you could use it."

"Is there tea?" Riddick asked gruffly. Jonas shook his head, a little stunned; he'd never pictured Richard Riddick as a tea man. 'They're just full of surprises, aren't they? Kyra's a lush, and Riddick likes tea.' The thought amused him a great deal.

"What did you do, buy out the whole kitchen?" Riddick's question brought him back.

"They beat me to it, actually. The food comes with the room. However, since today may or may not go so well I'd say a good breakfast is definitely in order, whether I bought it or not," he replied spryly.

"What do you mean 'may or may not go so well'?" Riddick asked suspiciously, shifting his eyes from the carts to Jonas.

"I just mean that they could be really happy to see me and throw me a party or a parade or something… or my return may not be taken so well, given the current state of the local government. After hearing the things that Soli told me and the red flags I'll probably raise, I may not exactly be the first person they want coming back, ya know?" Riddick nodded knowing the feeling well. Jonas changed the subject as Riddick poured himself a cup of juice, "So do you have a brother or something?" he asked, sipping his coffee, 'Sweet nectar of life.'

"No, why?" Riddick asked, puzzled at Jonas' question.

"Well, just after I woke up, I thought I heard you yell the name Jack in your sleep. I thought…" Jonas let his words trail off as he saw Riddick's shined eyes grow dull at hearing the name. He thought for a moment before replying.

"Jack," Riddick spoke the name quietly, like it was a curse. For him it almost was. He took a deep breath. "She was a kid I saved once, took her off his fucked up planet we crashed on during a cross system run. I left her alone to live a peaceful life with a holy man and she never forgave me." Though Riddick's face held no emotion, Jonas saw sadness veiled deep in his eyes. He was mystified that two people, two women, could have this sort of effect on such a man. Then he thought of what Kyra had told him on the _Gash_: _"He saved my life, got me and a holy man named Imam off this nightmare rock we crash landed on."_

Suddenly, it clicked.

"If you don't mind my asking, how did she go from Jack to Kyra?" Riddick's eyes shot up from the floor.

"I mind," he growled. Riddick's tone told Jonas that pushing the issue would only get him hurt, so he let it go.

They sat in silence for a bit, picking at the food here and there.

"So where are we?" Riddick asked between bites of sausage.

"Well, at sunup we had just passed the Melono Access Channel, so we've got maybe three hours." Jonas spoke around a bite of eggs.

"I take it Melono is a place you know?"

"Yeah, but they didn't have an access channel when I left, so-" a sound from inside Kyra's room grabbed both men's attention. The door opened and Kyra stepped out, bleary eyed and a little pale.

"What is that smell? And who the hell let a freighter roll over my head last night?" She stumbled into the bathroom where the faucet turned on and they could hear her splashing water on her face. She emerged with her eyes a little more open, but she still looked a little under the weather.

"Hungover much?" Jonas chuckled a little, "Don't feel bad, I would be too if I were you, but I don't get hangovers." Kyra only stuck her tongue out at Jonas, and then her eyes shifted to the man at the other end of the couch, who still hadn't even spoken one word to her.

"Good morning Riddick," she said quietly walking up to one of the carts and taking a sweet roll. He only grunted in response and Jonas watched her face fall. 'Here we go again,' he thought. "So we're back to this shit again, huh? Well fuck you too." She threw a sweater and boots on and rushed out the door, slamming it hard behind her. Jonas just sat looking between the door and Riddick, waiting for some response from the man. There was none. He simply continued chewing as though she'd never come out of her bedroom.

"Aren't you going after her?" Jonas asked. Riddick looked over, and once again his face held no expression and Jonas let his frustration momentarily get the better of him. "Alright, that's it. I don't usually get involved with shit like this, but I also consider it my responsibility as a friend to tell my friends when they're being stupid. Don't take this the wrong way, but you're being really _really _stupid. She loves you, why can't you see that? She loves you, and whether you want to admit it or not there's not another woman in this whole universe better suited for you than her. For god sake let go of your pride or your history or whatever the fuck it is that's keeping the two of you apart! _Go after her_!" Jonas' eyes went wide as he suddenly realized that these could very possibly be his last moments in this life because of his big fat mouth. Riddick only sat, a little dumbfounded at Jonas' outburst. He knew Jonas was right, but acting was harder than knowing. Jonas saw the dilemma in the other man's eyes.

"Look, I'll make this easy for you. We have about three hours until we reach the port at Lazarus, I'm going to finish my breakfast and then I'm going to go jump in the shower. Please don't be here when I get out."

* * *

Kyra stood on the deck of the large ferry staring into the silty gray water rolling beneath it. Every once in a while she could watch a tear fall and be swallowed by the river, lost forever in a gulf of coldness. The thought crossed her mind that she was a tear, being swallowed by Riddick's inner river. 

'Silly,' she thought sullenly, 'Riddick doesn't have an inner river, he has an inner black hole.'

Like an idiot she thought she would wake up that morning and he would be the same open and unguarded man she had found the night before. She went over the conversation she'd expected in her mind:

_She would wake up and find him staring at her with those beautiful shined eyes, watching her sleep. He would touch her face, and when she went to speak, he would shush her and kiss her softly._

"_Oh Kyra, thank you for making me open up. I've never had someone know me the way you do." They would kiss again and end up making sweet love all morning. _

"Stupid stupid stupid," she banged her head on the guardrail of the deck, hoping to knock some sense into herself. She should have known better. There was no fucking way Richard B. Riddick would stay vulnerable and she had only set herself up for disappointment by thinking that he would. Last night was fluke, a moment of weakness for him that would probably never be repeated. She may as well just forget it ever happened. A woman's nasally voice crackled over the intercom above Kyra's head.

"Attention passengers. Two hours to the Lazarus port. That's two hours to Lazarus port. Thank you."

Kyra took a deep breath of cool river air and tried to gather her thoughts. She really didn't want to go back to the cabin and face Riddick, not yet at least. Not until she got a grip on herself. She sucked up her tears and at the same moment caught movement out of the corner of her eye.

'Shit, think of the devil,' she thought. She hadn't counted on him coming to find her. He stood beside her silently, leaning on the rail and looking out on the river. After a moment Kyra finally spoke.

"I'm sorry… for how I acted last night. I shouldn't have… I mean, I just-" Riddick cut her off, looking down.

"Don't. Don't apologize. There's been too much between us for you to apologize." He thought about adding 'Most of it's my fault, anyway', but didn't. There was another strained silence between them.

"So where does that leave us?" Kyra asked hesitantly, looking up at him with big, doll-like eyes. Riddick looked at her thoughtfully. Those eyes were so familiar yet felt strange at the same time. They held secrets and were deep enough that it might take forever for him to know them completely. She was changing him; he could feel it starting to show in his actions toward her more and more. He had the urge then to kiss her, if only to make her understand without words. He didn't. He wouldn't.

"We're okay," he said quietly, looking away and battling the urge to… hug her? As if she'd read his mind, she threw her arms around him, squeezing him, savoring the feel of him in her arms. He was solid, like a boulder that she could cling to if needed. After the surprise wore off, he stroked her back, as if to reassure her that what he'd said was true.

'Good enough for now, I guess,' she thought. They let go and stared back out at the river. Riddick sighed deeply, knowing deep down that things were definitely going to be different from now on. Especially in him.

"Come on, I want to go eat a _real _breakfast. That is of course if you two pigs didn't eat it all." She jabbed at him playfully. "Last one to the cabin licks the other's boots!" She yelled as she sprinted down the deck. Riddick shook his head and grinned, waiting a moment before following. She would need the head start.

* * *

Ok, here's where you do your part! Review please! 


	14. Bad Feelings

Hello one and all! As always, infinite thanks and gratitude to all my beautiful reviewers! Without you guys keeping me going this would probably suck. –HUGE SMOOCHES TO ALL-

This chap is a little short and boring, but the next chapter will make up for it I promise. It may take a little longer to write, but you guys will just die for the monkey wrench I'm throwing in! Well, maybe not, but you'll love it at any rate, I'm relatively positive ;o).

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to me, except Kyra, and Riddick, and anyone else who doesn't belong to me. Duh! ;oP

* * *

They disembarked at the Lazarus port as scheduled and without complication (Kyra was still trying to get the taste of Riddick's boots out of her mouth). As they descended the ramp from the_ Vesper_, the first thing Riddick and Kyra both noticed were armed gunmen standing at regular intervals on the pier. Little did they know but Jonas noticed as well. 'Compliments of Tobias Rothchild, no doubt,' he thought to himself with a scoff. Jonas also noticed how much the area around the pier had grown in his eight-year absence. When he left it was just a dock, a place to get on and off the ferry, nothing more. Now it was a bustling commerce center with many shops and restaurants and other attractions. Stands were set up along the edges like a street market bearing different types of colorful and highly overpriced merchandise. Jonas and Kyra were so enthralled that Riddick was the only one who noticed one of the gunmen heading in their direction after taking a long look at the screen on his arm. Riddick stopped the other two in their tracks, and then they saw him. 'Shit shit shit,' was the concurrent thought among them.

"Clearance cards?" the gunman asked, holding out one hand while keeping the other firmly planted on his weapon. Jonas fumbled for a moment, as thrown off by the threat emanating from Riddick as the gun at the man's side. He dug the cards out of his pocket and handed them over. The man swiped the cards on his little digital scanner.

"Salazar, Jonas M.?" the man asked, eyeing Jonas when he raised his hand, "We've been waiting for you. You have a summons from the High Lord." The man motioned for two of his associates to approach, "You need to come with us." Jonas had to think fast as he could feel the growing anxiety in the two behind him.

"Of course, anything for the High Lord. May I only have a moment to confer with my friends?" Jonas proposed innocently. Riddick stilled the hand that was about to go for his shiv. The gunman eyed Riddick suspiciously, then Kyra admiringly (which made her a little nauseous), and finally he nodded and Jonas pulled them aside, away from prying ears.

"Are you crazy? We just got here and you're just going to go off with these guys? What the fuck are you thinking? What are _we_ supposed to do?" Kyra's tone was level so as not to draw attention, but her eyes were frantic.

"Look, there's a good possibility that Tobias got wind of my name on the ferry roster and wants to find out why I'm back. If they knew who the two of you were there would already be arteries open. Just stay cool a minute." Jonas walked over and took a pen from one of the gunmen, then walked back to Kyra and took her hand, writing an address on the back of it. "Go here and lay low. It's a safe place, and I doubt that it's disappeared no matter how much the city has grown. If I'm not back by sundown _then_ open arteries, okay?" The last bit of his statement was aimed at Riddick and the look the two men exchanged was a mutual understanding. If Jonas wasn't back by sundown, chances were he was dead and they should leave Ajilon by _any_ means necessary and continue on without him.

Kyra watched the gunmen escort Jonas up the pier with an overwhelming sense of dread, but she kept her mouth shut as always. Just then, Riddick leaned in close to her ear.

"So, it's okay when _he_ suggests we split up, huh?"

* * *

Jonas was amazed at how the city had grown back, even flourished after such a tragedy. He always knew they would be all right, with or without him. Some of the shops and neighborhoods they passed were familiar, some were new, but he got the same feeling from all of it; fear. He could hear the people behind him whispering hushed conversations, and at one point he thought he'd heard his name mentioned but he couldn't be sure.

The men lead him to what had once been the Chambers of the High Council, now the High Lord Tobias Rothchild's permanent residence. The first thing he noticed was how dark it was. No curtains open, no daylight at all. Second, it was sickeningly ornate and stunk of autocracy. Gold and antiquities at every turn, which Jonas knew damn well had been paid for with the trust and sweat of his people. The whole damn place was offensive and a little creepy. He was lead into a parlor and told to sit, that the High Lord would be with him at his leisure.

'So, we're down to hurry up and wait?' Jonas thought with a sneer. He looked around and started when his eyes graced an enormous portrait of Tobais's father, Lazlo Rothchild, that he had somehow missed upon entering the room. It wasn't so much the size of the thing that was disturbing, but the look of Lazlo's face presented a totally sinister air that Jonas didn't remember him having, not that he'd paid much attention to politics as a child. It gave Jonas the heebie jeebies and even when he tried to ignore it, he felt as though it was staring at him.

A sound (gratefully) distracted him and he looked up to find a man had entered the parlor. He wore a well-tailored suit, yet carried himself like a slave, which was rather unnerving.

"Mister Salazar, I presume, sir?" Jonas nodded, and the man came forward to the settee where Jonas sat and stood in front of him, bowing his head low, "A few things you must be aware of, sir. You will stand to address the High Lord, sir. You must never raise your voice to the High Lord, sir. You must always-"

"That will be quite enough, Raoul. Jonas is an old friend, he will be fine." Jonas looked up at the door where the servant had just been to find the form of his one time acquaintance standing in it now. 'Wow, eight years really does a lot, doesn't it?' was Jonas' first thought. The last time he'd seen Tobias, he was a skinny, gangly, acne ridden little shit of a boy. Now, well now was another story entirely. He had grown by at least six or eight inches, lost the acne, gained some muscle and was now a formidable looking man. He had grown his hair out and the mass of auburn waves was tied back in the same way a warrior would tie his hair back before a battle. His long oval face was pale, and the darkness of his hair and large eyes only set off his narrow features even more, almost giving them a glow. Jonas was so taken aback that he hadn't even noticed Raoul's swift exit. Jonas stood as Tobias came forward, his gauzy pitch-black robes moving with him in an almost unnatural way.

"Really, Jonas, you don't have to stand. That rule is for the masses, not… friends." His voice had changed significantly as well, and not just from puberty, Jonas had a feeling. There was a ring to it that Jonas just couldn't quite place.

"It's good to see you, Tobias. You've changed. A lot." Jonas held out his hand to shake the other man's, and Tobias only stared for a moment before finally taking it in a firm grip. Their eyes met, and Jonas saw the same challenge, the same unyielding tenacity there had always been. His grip on Jonas' hand tightened just enough to make him wince and Jonas saw something else mingle briefly across the other man's face; pleasure. Pleasure from pain. 'Interesting… and creepy,' Jonas thought to himself. Tobias released Jonas' hand and the two sat across from each other.

"So, I trust that my men gave you no grief when they found you at the pier?" Tobias asked with seemingly genuine sentiment.

"No, no grief at all. It was just a little surprising that you knew I was coming, but I suppose you have eyes and ears all over the Capitol, don't you? Being an aspiring Sovereign, after all." Jonas replied, having to bite back his sarcasm. Tobias didn't seem to notice.

"So I do. One must keep channels open to secure one's place." 'Whatever that means,' Jonas thought snidely.

"Well I, uh, I like what you've done with the Chamber. It's very… interesting." There was silence between the two men for a moment, and then Tobias spoke up again.

"So, Jonas, it's been eight years. What exactly brings you back home after so long?" Tobias' tone was low and his eyes were fixed on Jonas' face, like a big cat watching a herd for weakness.

"Just back for a visit. Wanted to see what's been done with the place." Jonas kept his answer short, not wanting to give away too much. Tobias nodded.

"And what of these friends of yours, hm? Who are they?"

"They're just friends. Good friends." Jonas replied with only the slightest hint of annoyance. Tobias seemed to think over Jonas' answer for a moment.

"The girl, she is very beautiful. I wonder, do you and this other, bigger man feel the same about her? I suppose not, after all there was only one for you once, and I doubt _she's_ been forgotten." Jonas' demeanor darkened at the stab but he said nothing, so Tobias continued, "You know that if anything happens involving them, you and everyone you've come in contact with since arriving will be held responsible. Be very careful with your friends, Jonas." Jonas' eyes went wide as he caught the insinuation. A thought came to him then of lunging across the space between them and choking the man before him. He refrained. "Now, with that said I would like to invite you and your comrades to our celebration this evening here in the grand ballroom. Go, retrieve them and come back, I will personally see to your preparations." Tobias stood to leave, and Jonas stood to stop him.

"What exactly are we celebrating?" Jonas asked. Tobias chuckled.

"My father's death, of course, and the anniversary of the fall of the iniquity of the Council, and the rise of the new peace in Lazarus. Tonight will be five tranquil years since I took power. We will add your return to the list as well, if you'd like." Tobias snapped his fingers, and Raoul quickly entered the room again. "Raoul will show you out." With that he turned to leave. Raoul bid Jonas lead the way toward the door. He went to go, but turned in Tobias' direction again.

"Tobias," the man stopped just inside the other doors and looked up, "Tell Sariah I said hello." Jonas smirked as Tobias' eyes darkened, but he only nodded slightly and left.

Jonas had a lot to think about now. Once again, the question came to him, 'What the fuck am I getting myself into?'

* * *

After what had seemed like hours, Riddick and Kyra finally found a cab to take them to the address written on the back of Kyra's hand. Upon showing the man the address, he looked oddly between the two and shrugged before starting the meter. Twenty minutes later, they arrived at a back alley bar in what looked to be the 'bad part of town'. After arguing for a few minutes that this had to be the wrong place they gave up and paid the man and he sped off for fear of being jacked. The place was dilapidated, with a sagging roof and crumbling stucco walls, and had a general 'not such a good idea' feel to it.

"Stay close to me," Riddick growled in Kyra's ear as they walked toward the entrance. She scowled at him, but he lifted his goggles and his eyes shone with the gravity of his remark. She mumbled something and took his arm as they walked inside. The first word that came to her mind was cliché. The place was your typical loud, dirt infested shit hole bar, with the typical loud, dirt infested shit hole patrons. And there were quite a few patrons. 'What kind of person drinks at this hour?' Kyra thought to herself. After scanning the room, Riddick decided there was not a man present he couldn't take on a few times over, so he led Kyra to a quiet corner table and they sat to wait for Jonas. A hyped out waitress came and took their drink order (bourbon and ice for him, water for her) and scampered off to fill it. Kyra chuckled to herself, rethinking her earlier question. When the waitress came back she set the drinks on the table and bent down to Riddick's ear and whispered something. Jack felt a mild jealousy begin to form, but then Riddick laughed, grabbing the woman's forehead and shoving her away from him hard, making her fall on her ass on the floor. The woman scrambled to her feet and ran to the bar, talking frantically to a fat man standing next to it.

"Here we go," Riddick rolled his eyes as the man approached.

"You got a problem mister?" the fat man asked, his chest puffed out in his most intimidating manner. 'Yep, cliché,' Kyra thought with a small grin as she took a sip of her water.

"Nope." Riddick replied nonchalantly, looking up at the man who was crowding his personal bubble.

"We'll just see about that!" The man said as he went to swing on Riddick. Kyra was shocked when Riddick actually let the man land a sloppy punch to the side of his jaw. He just sat, totally unmoved and still looking down at his drink.

"That was a freebie since I pushed your whore. Now, walk away." The man looked back and snickered at his buddies, who had now collected behind him to see the commotion. He came around again to land another blow, but this time Riddick caught the man's fist mid swing. Kyra hadn't seen the movement, but she heard the sounds of bone crunching and the man started wailing in pain. With a good heave, the fat man was on the ground holding his hand and whimpering like a baby. There were murmurs and whispers among the fat man's friends as Riddick stood and looked around so everyone could see his shined eyes.

"Anyone else?" There was no response, so he motioned to Kyra, "C'mon, let's go." They left the bar and found a metro stop close by so they could still watch for Jonas.

"What did she say to you?" Kyra asked out of nowhere after a long silence. Riddick smirked.

"She said that fucking little girls is bad for me, that for thirty creds she'd take me out back and show me what a real woman could do."

"Oh," Kyra blushed a little as the thought of them fucking stuck in her head. The next words came out before she could think to stop them.

"Why didn't you go? It was only thirty creds and-" she didn't get to finish as Riddick's head whipped around and he ripped off his goggles to stare at her like she'd grown a second head.

"What! Woman I oughtta-"

"Oughtta what? What did she do now?" Jonas' voice chirped in and the two turned to see him walking down the sidewalk toward them. Kyra sprang to her feet and was standing over Jonas menacingly in only a matter of seconds.

"What the fuck is the big idea sending us to a shit hole like this to wait for you? Do you know what could have happened? HUH! ANSWER ME!" Jonas could only stand and stare wide eyed at the raging woman in front of him.

"I, uh, I mean, I …We're going to a party. Does that make up for it?" He explained the situation, and though Riddick had a bad feeling, he agreed to go for Kyra's sake. More accurately, she was dragging him, bad feeling or not.


	15. The Party Goes Bad

First and foremost, as always, many many thanks to my reviewers. All of you, every single one. I'm sorry I don't follow suit like some writers here and name you all one by one, but you know who you are, and I do try to reply to each review individually as they come it, the signed ones at least. Like I said, many thanks and keep it up! I need it right now especially because my enthusiasm for this story is waning so I **REALLY** need the support. **REVIEW PLEASE**! Pretty pretty please with (insert topping of choice here) on top!

Oh yeah, no monkey wrenches this chapter. It didn't work out the way I wanted it to, but never fear, there will be twists. Alrighty, enough from me.

Disclaimer: It's all mine, except what isn't. ;oP

* * *

When they arrived back at the Chamber it was late afternoon. To avoid eating at the Chamber and possibly being poisoned or whatnot, they had grabbed a quick bite to eat at a small restaurant not far away. They were met at the door of the house by three attendants, one of which Jonas recognized as Raoul. He carried himself differently than the other attendants, with more fear and apprehension; Jonas hadn't noticed before because he was the only servant in the room. Raoul had been more abused during his time here, Jonas guessed, and held less revere for his master than the others. 'Good to know,' he thought absently. He glanced over at Riddick and by the look on his face Jonas guessed that he was probably thinking the same things. Or possibly which one would be the most helpful eventually.

The other male servant, an older, shorter, white haired man with a big nose and small eyes, stepped forward and spoke first.

"Salutations, my name is Orn, I am head of the household staff. This is Raoul, and the lady to my right is Jora." Orn motioned to his right and Jonas finally noticed the third member of the entourage. She was middle aged, or if she wasn't her round face was careworn like she should have been. Her curly blonde hair was pulled back making her look even older and her light blue eyes spoke silently of untold burdens and things she'd born witness to that she didn't particularly want to see. She fidgeted, obviously uncomfortable with Jonas' scrutiny. 'Interesting.' Orn continued, "If each of you will come with one of us, we will show you to your rooms and assist you with your wardrobe and other preparations for this evening's festivities."

Riddick looked at Jonas with visible doubts. He was obviously not happy, but he played along well. Jonas nodded reassuringly and the three were led to their own chambers to get ready.

* * *

Some time later Riddick emerged and was hastily led by a highly agitated Orn to the end of a hallway where he could wait for his companions. He smirked as Orn sauntered off mumbling something about manners. Riddick hadn't intended to scare him, but sleeves just weren't his thing, and if Orn couldn't understand why he'd ripped the ones off the simple black silk tunic outfit he'd chosen there was little he could do. He'd gotten a kick out of Orn's face when he'd done it though. A look of near convulsion had crossed it and Riddick could tell the man had to bite his tongue to keep from coming unglued. The sound of footsteps coming down the hall brought him back and he looked up to see Jonas walking sprightly toward him. Jonas whistled approvingly.

"Not bad, not bad. You clean up nicely… for a convict. Whaddaya think?" He was practically glowing as he spun around so Riddick could look him over. It had been far too long since Jonas had a chance to wear clothes so finely tailored and he planned to take full advantage of it. He had chosen a gray tunic outfit with silver piping, much the same design as Riddick's, only his still had sleeves.

"You too, you know, minus the convict part. Where's Kyra?"

"She'll be down soon, I suppose, hey…" Jonas motioned for Riddick to lean closer, "I put the squeeze on Raoul while I was getting ready and questioned him about Tobias."

"And…?"

"And… there are rumors going around about dark forces of some sort at work in this place. He told me that there are mysteries here, mysteries that no one has had the courage to unlock. People who've asked questions have been disappearing for the last five years, and Tobias owns the authorities so nothing's been done about it. Tobias has secrets, and I want to know what they are." Jonas backed off and the look on his face was dead serious, though Riddick thought he must have been joking.

"Look, if you want to go play detective be my guest, but let Kyra and I get the hell out of here first. This isn't our fight and-"

"What's not whose fight?" came a silken voice from down the hall. The two men looked toward the voice and mouths went slack and eyes bugged out as Kyra ambled slowly toward them (slowly because she wasn't quite used to the two extra inches under her feet yet).

Riddick had never seen her in a dress before. As a matter of fact, this was the first time since he'd met her that she actually _looked _feminine at all. Her dress was black with forest green trim, a wrap style bodice with a slim flowing skirt tapering down to the floor that covered the heels he knew she had to be wearing, since she was exactly two inches taller now than she had been upon arriving. The dark green in the dress enhanced her eyes so that they looked like fresh cut emeralds, entrancing Riddick even more than usual. Her curly, coffee black tresses spilled over her soft shoulders, almost covering the silver earrings dangling from each ear. Jonas was the first to regain the capacity for coherent speech.

"Who are you and what have you done with the real Kyra?" Jonas poked. She smiled, blushing a little as she walked up to the two men.

"What? Oh my god, I am a woman after all! Shock, awe, amazement!" She leaned forward to Riddick's ear and whispered, "Your mouth is hanging open." The light smell of flowers mingling with her natural scent was enthralling for him. Riddick closed his mouth and cleared his throat, clearly flustered. Kyra found great amusement in his reaction; it was just the one she was hoping for. It's always good to have the undivided attention of the man you're enamored with.

"You two don't look half bad yourselves," she snickered a little, "I'm assuming you guys aren't going to embarrass me, hm?"

Another clearing of throat grabbed all their attentions and they turned to see Orn opening a set of double doors to a grand ballroom. Exchanging looks, the three stepped forward and into the huge and crowded room. It was even more ornately decorated than the rest of the house, making Jonas' stomach turn to think of how it all had made its way here. Gold was strewn everywhere, even flecked into the stone of the floor. The ceiling was painted with scenes of flowery fields, and what Jonas recognized as the burned remains of the old city. Kyra too looked up and could guess what the scene was through Jonas' paled expression.

'Odd,' she thought, 'what sort of leader paints the remnants of a an atrocity on their ceiling?'

Riddick too thought it was strange, but even stranger was the trace of scent he picked up in the room. Nothing strong, and nothing he'd noticed anywhere else in the large house. It was the scent of decay, pain and death. He kept it to himself, not wanting to alarm the others but he put himself on alert just to be on the safe side.

The last of the guests arrived as the three mingled together, munching on oddly presented hors d'oeuvres and listening to music that floated over the dull hum of conversation from a small stage to one side of the room. Kyra was fascinated by the variety of clothing styles the other guests presented and though the colors were all dark, the mood was amazingly light.

Suddenly there was a clanking to get everyone's attention. Everyone's eyes drifted toward the sound and found Orn standing on the small stage by the musicians.

"Attention, may I have your attention please," the conversations tapered off and an opressive silence filled the huge room, "Thank you one and all for joining us for this joyous occasion; the fifth anniversary of the Peace of Lazarus." Orn paused for applause and was obliged by the zealous crowd. After a moment he continued, "Now I have the esteemed pleasure of introducing the bringer of this Peace. Ladies and gentlemen a warm welcome to your host and High Lord, Tobias Rothchild!" More roaring applause as Tobias emerged from the side somewhere. He wore sumptuously decorated robes of burgundy with gold trim and his presence was undeniably powerful. He had the crowd in an absolute uproar. Not just the crowd, Jonas noticed; Kyra too was totally enthralled by him. In fact, every woman attending had the same rapt expression. It was a little disconcerting, to say the least. Once the applause finally died down, Tobias spoke.

"Hello friends and esteemed nobles of Lazarus," Tobias' voice carried far over the crowd, even though he had no amplifier. 'Interesting,' Riddick thought to himself. Tobias continued, "Before I speak my words for tonight's occasion, I would like to introduce someone very special to all of you. The woman who has made my life complete, I feel. The woman I plan to make my wife very, very soon." Jonas' heart almost stopped as he realized whom Tobias was speaking of. "My light, my one and only, Sariah Derue."

The crowd disappeared and time stood still for Jonas as his once best friend strode out onto the stage beside Tobias with a fluid grace that was almost unnatural. She too had grown, now standing only a few inches shorter than Tobias himself. She was slender, having lost the chub of adolescence, and her deep burgundy dress fit her form well, accenting her curves and contours. Her raven hair was done up in twisted braids all wrapped about her head and Jonas could tell that if it were down it would hang past her waist. She was pale, like Tobias, but she still had the same delicately featured oval face he remembered. As she gazed out over the crowd suddenly their eyes met and Jonas gasped. Her eyes were callous now. The warm violet pools he knew were now cold and empty. Her fire was gone, replaced by something… uncanny and cruel. She held his eyes and let out a tiny, broken smile before hers moved on as though she thought she was seeing his memory or his ghost and not the real him.

"Is that _your _Sariah?" Riddick's voice rumbling in his ear brought Jonas crashing back to himself. Suddenly he felt as though his skull would burst. It was too much, the roar of the crowd's applause coupled with the crush of seeing her again, even the sound of his own blood in his veins was too much. He had to get out, get away. He turned and started trying desperately to move through the mass of people who had accumulated behind them to see the two together. Kyra and Riddick only looked at each other with alarm and tried to follow him through the throng of bodies.

'She's not even her anymore. What was I thinking? Why did I come here? Why?' The questions wouldn't stop as he moved through the sea of bodies, trying urgently to get away. Out of sheer panic he softened his form just the slightest amount to squeeze through the people and get out. He'd heard Kyra calling out to him, but lost her somewhere in the crowd. All he could think about was getting away. It would drive him mad to stay here. 'Just get out, get out, get out.'

* * *

Kyra had tried to keep up with Jonas, but he moved to quickly. She thought she'd seen his arm bend in a way it normally shouldn't have, which told her he really was desperate to get out, so she dropped back and let him go.

"He needs time, we'll find him later." She told Riddick, but when she turned and looked behind her, he was gone. 'Shit.'

Suddenly she felt hands on her arms, and a tiny prick in her shoulder. She turned expecting Riddick and caught a glimpse of Jora before everything went black.

* * *

Riddick had lost Kyra in the crowd and had been searching for her for nearly an hour when he saw her advancing toward him from across the room. Something was different about her walk, her demeanor, but he shrugged it off. 'Probably just the party going to her head.'

"Where the fuck have you-" she shushed him and took his hand, leading him out onto the large dance floor. He hadn't even noticed the music he'd been so preoccupied with finding her. It was a slow and hypnotic song, with some sort of violin type instrument in lead. It was hauntingly beautiful. She stood him in the middle of the floor and began to move, slowly, sinuously, matching the beat perfectly.

"Kyra, we need to-" yet again she shushed him. Never saying a word, or missing a beat she danced for him, and only him. Sure others watched but neither paid them any mind. He couldn't say he wasn't happy to watch, though he was curious as to what brought this on, her movements mesmerized him and kept him speechless. She closed her eyes and moved closer, brushing his body with her own, moving her hips so close to his it was all he could do not to groan.

He noticed something then. He grabbed her by the upper arms and lifted her to him, inhaling her deeply. He growled.

"You're… not… Kyra."

* * *

P.S. The music mentioned above, imagine something like Lorena McKennit's Marco Polo, or something similar. Oh yeah, review please! 


	16. Seperated

Hello one and all! As always, thank yous to ALL my reviewers. You guys are great. SMOOCHES! This chapter is short, but I wanted to get another one in before I leave for spring break. So here it is! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Everything you don't recognize from the movies (which is a lot at this point) is mine, the rest is someone else's.

* * *

Jonas was near hysterics by the time he got out of the ballroom. He'd tried to find a door leading outside, but his mind was so frenzied he didn't much care where the door he went out led to as long as it was away from Sariah and Tobias and the guests and their applause and laughter and merriment. He was propelled by sheer panic. His thoughts were erratic, so much so he'd wandered down two hallways and through a door before he even realized that he was still walking. He entered a random darkened room and closed the door behind him, sliding slowly down to the floor with his face in his hands.

"What am I thinking? Why? Why did I come back?" he knew it sounded crazy but he berated himself out loud, "I knew this was going to happen. I should have listened to myself when I had so many doubts about coming back here. She told me to never come back! You never listen! STUPID FUCKING MORON!" He punctuated each insult with a good hard thump to the door behind him with the back of his head, finally resting it on the door and taking a deep breath.

Even with his eyes closed he could still see Sariah as she walked out to stand next to Tobias, like her reflection was burned into the back of his retinas. Frame by frame he ran through each motion as she walked out on the stage. The simple ease of her movements was mind-boggling. Preternatural. Like she moved through space itself, instead of within it like the rest of us. It was hard to wrap his mind around it. When he'd spoken with Tobias earlier that day he'd noticed the same sort of motion. Only Tobias' movement was more controlled, more tense and uncomfortable. He was holding back. It hit Jonas then. Tobias wasn't trying to move more gracefully than normal, that was natural. He was trying to move more inelegantly, more clumsily. More… human.

Jonas' eyes shot open as he caught the natural conclusion his mind had wandered to. Tobias isn't human.

"Tobias isn't human," he whispered the words as though his mind could have malformed the point inside his head. "Oh sweet stars, Tobias isn't human… neither is Sariah. What the fuck?"

* * *

He'd seen her run this way. Through the doors to the right and down the hall, but now she'd disappeared. Riddick had chased Kyra's doppelganger as far as he could before he lost her, and now he too was lost. The corridors seemed endless and though he'd paid careful attention to which directions he'd taken he still got turned around going back to the ballroom. No, it wasn't him. It was like the house was changing around him. He could feel splinters of panic churning in his gut. It was a feeling he did NOT like and wasn't at all used to. Suddenly he stopped and closed his eyes. Taking in deep breaths he focused, attuning all of his senses to the building and space around him. He could hear nothing, no voices, no music. His right side was a third of a degree cooler than his left, which told him there was air movement coming from that direction. Suddenly, the scent he'd caught in the ballroom before wafted beneath his nose, however _it_ came from the left. From the interior of the house, not the way out. Every single one of his instincts told him to go right, every cell in his being chanted 'turn right, turn right, turn right'.

'If only it weren't her,' he thought solemnly for the umpteenth time within the last week. This moment was the culmination of all his weaknesses for her. All the fiber fine cracks in his desperado facade had led to this one moment, this one choice.

He turned left.

* * *

Voices. Before anything else was clear Kyra could hear voices. Whispering, murmuring, words undecipherable. Then the cold clamminess of the ground that she was laying on came to her attention. She opened her eyes carefully but it was too dark to see much of anything, but her eyes burned. Then came the overwhelming stink of rotted flesh and feces.

"Oh good GOD!" Kyra yelled as the smell burned her olfactory nerves to ruin. Her hands came up to cover her nose and mouth, and that's when she remembered what happened. The ball, Sariah had come out on stage, then Jonas was running away and she was chasing after him. She'd lost him, she said something to Riddick then turned to find him not there. Then a poke. Jora. Then black. But if she was a prisoner, why wasn't she tied? She picked her head up off the ground. It was wobbly, but she could move. She tried to stand. Her muscles wouldn't cooperate, a side effect from what ever they'd used to knock her out, and she ended up only sitting up and leaning on the wall behind her. She was so dizzy she was nauseous.

"We can make it back to Helion Prime, I said," she muttered as she tried to make her eyes focus on _something _through the god-awful smell and the grogginess from the tranq but all she could see was black, "nooo, no one ever listens to me. GODDAMMIT!" She yelled out from sheer frustration. She almost felt as though she could cry, but she knew damn well if she started then she'd really be in trouble. She couldn't let the fear take hold, but the last time she'd been in absolute darkness… She shivered and shoved the thoughts down as far as she could.

"Okay, Kyra, let's look at this logically," she spoke out loud, knowing she sounded crazy but not caring much at this point, "you're in a dungeon or something in this creepy guy's house. This creepy guy is the ruler of this little hole in the wall town your friend grew up in and his future wife was once your friend's best friend… WHAT THE FUCK DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH ME!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, not expecting an answer. She got one anyway.

"It has nothing to do with you, my dear. You just happen to be in the wrong place with the wrong person at the wrong time, that's all." A silvery female voice came out of the darkness from no particular direction. Kyra squinted, trying so hard to make her eyes focus and adjust. It was no use. The darkness was just too thick. 'What I wouldn't give for his eyes right now,' she thought bitterly.

"What the fuck do you want with me!" Kyra was getting frustrated now. Suddenly she felt a hand on her face and it didn't move no matter how she shook her head.

"You're so pretty, so young. Strong, too. Why would you be out in the middle of space with a convict and a coward?" The hand on her face moved down to her chin and held it tight, holding her head still. Kyra felt like something unseen was boring into her eyes. There was enormous pressure inside her skull then, like something was inside her head along with her brain. She tried to close her eyes but they stayed open no matter how hard she strained to shut them. She began to see memories playing in her mind against her will. Someone else was inside her head; someone else was searching her memories. 'No, no! Those are mine!' she yelled inside her mind. Suddenly a great roar came from the woman and the pressure inside Kyra's head was gone. Exhausted suddenly, she slumped against the wall and blacked out. Before she went totally out she heard the woman's voice again.

"That's right, my dear, rest. You'll need it."

* * *

Yeah, I know. I'm such a tease. Review please! 


	17. Horrors

Hello again! As always, infinite thanks to my reviewers. I love you all. You guys light up my day! **HUGS **

Alas, this story is coming to an end. I'm thinking like two more chapters, maybe an epilogue. We'll see. This has been such a journey for me, as well as our characters, and I want to thank everyone for hanging in there with us. You know what I mean. Ok, before I get too mushy, here it is. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Whatever's not mine is someone else's; so I don't own it, so don't sue me.

* * *

The first thing Kyra noticed upon her consciousness beginning to surface was comfort. She was comfortable. She hadn't been when she'd passed out, but now she was gripped in a very familiar coziness that led her to wonder… 'What the shit!'

She sat straight up and looked around, hardly able to believe what she was seeing. She was home. Well, the only place she'd ever thought of as 'home', anyway. She was back in New Mecca. Back with Imam and his family. She was in her own bed, in her own room. She looked around to see her lamp and the few pictures and trinkets she'd had were all still intact and in their proper places. It was morning; the sun was shining softly through her bone colored curtains, as it always did. The house was still, as it always was in the morning. She pushed back her covers and walked to the bathroom on shaky legs. She held her breath as she looked into the mirror. She was younger now. Same green eyes, same defined features… shaved head? She was back at twelve! The pit of her stomach dropped out and her body went on autopilot as her mind whirled past one question after another. She walked down the stairs automatically, still in shock. Imam was sitting at the kitchen table with the newspaper in hand, as he always did in the morning. She sat across from him staring blankly off into space, and he peeked over the top of the newspaper when she said nothing.

"What is wrong with you child?" Imam asked lightly seeing the look on her face. Slowly she looked over at him, his words barely registering in her mind, "You look as though you've seen a ghost."

She simply stared at him for a moment. When his clothing finally registered in her mind she realized he was wearing his thatched gray robes. He'd torn those robes just after Riddick left and had to throw them out. That must mean…

"Where's Riddick?" she asked quietly, as though the words would let loose some sort of chaos if spoken too loudly.

"He's in his room, I suppose. I haven't seen him all morning, so he must be there. Why do you ask? Is everything alright Jack?" Her eyes were wide. Jack? The name rattled her a little. It had been far too long since she'd heard it. She shook her head and stood to run down the hall away from the kitchen to the guest bedroom that Riddick called his. She hesitated for only a second, then knocked on the door. No answer, so she went in. He was lying face up on his bed, goggles off, staring at the ceiling.

"Don't you know that no answer means 'leave me the hell alone'?" he growled not taking his eyes off the ceiling. Something black caught her eye on the floor and she looked to find a stuffed black duffle bag sitting in wait at the end of the bed.

"You're gunna leave, aren't you?" she stepped forward daringly, keeping her voice low to keep him from hearing the emotion there, "Aren't you." It didn't matter what he said, she knew the answer. She remembered this well.

He sat up and stared at her. He seemed amazed at her sudden gumption but managed to hold his tone relatively even.

"Yeah, kid, I'm gunna leave. I have to." He stared at her with those fantastic eyes. He reached for his goggles and snapped them on so that she couldn't see the speck of regret he had there. She instantly missed them. 'This feels familiar,' she thought absently.

"No you don't. You can stay, we'll hide you. You can-" He stood suddenly and towered over her like a great goggle clad menace, and his voice became an ominous growl.

"I can't stay. The mercs will come for me like they always do and I won't put you and Imam at risk like that so I have to go."

"What about me! Did you ever think about what it'll do to me if you go?" She was starting to lose her composure. She could feel her calm slipping with each word that she uttered.

"You'll be fine, Jack. You're strong, you're a survivor." He turned away from her. She felt crushed in that split second. She turned to leave in a huff but his voice stopped her.

"You still got that necklace I made you?"

"Yeah, why?" she asked, keeping her back to him.

"Whenever you feel… I don't know, weak, I guess, take that necklace out and remind yourself what you've already survived. What _we_ survived." He grabbed the bag and walked out of the room, brushing past her. It took her a second but she followed him out to the kitchen.

"Imam, tell him he doesn't have to leave. Tell him he can stay here, that you-" Imam only looked down. She felt the sting of tears beginning to form in her eyes and the ache of the lump rising in her throat. "Imam, tell him. Please." She was whimpering now and she couldn't stand it. Imam sighed heavily.

"Child, he cannot stay with us. It is too dangerous."

Those words, those ten words, broke her twelve-year-old heart. She looked between the two men, hoping beyond hope that someone would take pity on her. That she could make him stay with the simple dejected look on her face. Imam and Riddick exchanged nods and he walked out of the kitchen toward the front door. She ran after him and Imam ran after her.

"No! You can't leave me here! Please don't go!" the tears ran freely now, but she didn't care, "Riddick! You can't go. Please." She pushed past Riddick and spread her arms across the door, eyes burning with fear and anger.

"Move," he growled. She shook her head boldly determined to her ground.

"I won't let you go. You can't leave me here! Take me with you if you won't stay! I'll be good, I swear. You won't even know I'm there. You can train me and everything if you want, please!" she shouted at him. Riddick looked to Imam.

She suddenly had a flash of what was going to happen next. She remembered. This was the part where he whispered to her that he would be back for her someday. That he would come back and get her when he knew it would be safe. Those words would calm her enough to take his leaving in stride.

He bent down close to her ear.

"I hate you."

Her blood ran cold. She could feel her face pale out and her whole body began to tremble.

"What?" her voice came out in a broken whisper. Imam had vanished, the whole house was gone except for the door and Riddick and her. This isn't what happened. That's not what he said the first time. Suddenly he took on an evil look, like some sort of demon thing.

"You heard me, I hate you. I'm leaving because of you, and I'll never be back for you. Ever." His voice echoed darkly around her, the words repeating over and over again. He pushed her roughly, making her crumple to the floor. He opened the door but hesitated before walking through it, looking down at her with a nasty sneer.

"You're fucking pathetic and I hope you die." He spat at her and then walked out the door. The door disappeared as he closed it behind him and she was left in the nothing that surrounded her, his words still echoing in the dark. She felt so cold, so alone. There was no point anymore, if Riddick wouldn't save her. She was crushed, she was giving up. She curled up in a tight little ball and began to sob as the dark closed in the rest of the way.

* * *

"What the fuck is going on here!" His voice only echoed back in answer.

Riddick had been through what seemed like miles of hallway but was getting nowhere. He kept seeing the same doors over and over, but the rooms led nowhere. He had been following his nose the whole time, following the scent of decay that he'd picked up on, but that was getting him nowhere, too. It was like the whole place led… well, nowhere. He was about to start punching holes in random walls to mark his place (and out of sheer frustration) when he heard footsteps. He pulled himself around a corner and waited until the footsteps got close enough then reached out and grabbed for the neck of whoever it was.

"Holy shit!" Jonas let out a strangled expletive. Riddick dropped him with a grunt. "Jeez big guy, I'm so glad to see you too." Jonas rubbed at his throat. Riddick only growled. "Where's Kyra?" Jonas asked when he didn't see her.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out, but I can't make any headway. Where did you come from?"

"I came from a room down the hall and around the corner. Where did you come from?"

"I chased Kyra's evil twin down here, and I've been going around in circles ever since."

"Her evil twin?" Jonas looked at him skeptically, "I told you not to drink the wine at-" Once again Jonas found his neck in the crushing grip of the other man. 'This is getting old,' Jonas thought to himself. Riddick pulled Jonas close to his face.

"Look, something fucked is going on here, and I've got to find Kyra and get us the fuck out of here. You're welcome to come if you can help, if not, stay the fuck out of my way."

"I…_ach _can help… _hee_." With that Riddick dropped him again and began walking down the hallway once more. Jonas caught his breath then hurried to catch up. "You're right, something fucked is going on, Tobias and his intended aren't human, they're something… else. I dunno what but-" Riddick stopped in his tracks.

"Shh." Riddick was listening. He'd thought he heard some muffled sound like singing. He backed up to the door they'd passed meters back and sniffed. It looked like the exact same door he'd been seeing, but the scent he'd been following was much stronger here now.

"What are you doing?" Jonas whispered.

"I smell death, and it's coming from in here." Jonas' eyes went wide. They opened the door slowly and the scent blistered Jonas' nostrils and made his stomach turn. They were faced with another short hallway, dimly lit by sconces along the wall every few feet, which led to a stairway going down.

"Go on, Jonas. This is your damned hometown."

"I'd rather piss glass." Jonas retorted, wondering at the stairway. Riddick snorted as he thought of the last person he'd heard use that term. They heard a sound from what they each guessed was the bottom of the stairs. Jonas motioned with his hand as if to say 'after you', and Riddick scowled as he went forward. The hall was bare stone except for the sconces on the walls. The smell was wafting up from down the stairs. Silently the two men edged their way down the stairs until they heard another noise then they stopped. Humming. Someone at the bottom of the stairs was humming. Jonas and Riddick looked at each other. The humming went further and further away until it stopped altogether and was followed by the slamming of a door. The two men inched cautiously to the bottom of the stairs and, after making sure it was all clear, turned the corner into the room.

What they saw would remain etched in each of their minds until the day they died. It was a huge room with a high ceiling, drab stone walls, a door at the other side, and no decoration at all, contrary to the rest of the house. The remarkable thing were rows and rows of oddly shaped chairs that resembled ancient massage chairs, about half of which had people in them with wires and cords coming from their heads. The cords and wires led to monitors attached to the chairs that displayed vital signs and brainwave activity and some other device attached to the monitors.

"Good gods!" Jonas gasped.

"What in the name of hell is this place?" Riddick considered himself a pretty desensitized man, but this gave even _him_ the heebie-jeebies. They walked closer and Riddick realized where the smell had been coming from. These people were all in different stages of physical decay. Their bodies were rotting in places, muscles atrophied to different degrees and open oozing sores everywhere, though their brains and minds seemed in tact from the readings on the monitors.

Both men heard a noise suddenly and both ducked for cover, Jonas behind a console against the wall, Riddick in a darkened corner barely big enough for his whole body. The door at the other side of the room opened and a short, squatty little bald man entered followed by Tobias.

"You were right about that new one, sire. She's a veritable well of suffering. All we had to do was prompt her and she-" the little man was cut short.

"Shut up, I know I was right. I told you what Sariah saw when she looked into her mind earlier. How much longer does she need before she is ripe enough?" Tobias asked impatiently. They were talking about Kyra. Riddick couldn't prove it, but it had to be her.

"Perhaps a few more hours, my lord, to ensure she is at her best for your first taste." The little man was terrified of Tobias, Riddick noticed. He was jittery and restless in the presence of his High Lord. "Perhaps, if your highness wishes, I could recommend another to satisfy your thirst until she is ready?" Tobias seemed to ponder for a moment.

"Which one did you have in mind?" The two men walked to one of the chairs near to Riddick and Jonas' hiding places.

"This one's readings have been off the charts today, sir. He should prove agreeable to your palate." The squatty man motioned to a chair holding an appallingly withered man.

"Show me." Tobias commanded. The little man pushed a green and then a blue button on the monitor and an image flashed to the screen of the man huddled over what looked to be a dead child, presumably _his own _dead child.

"Fine, he's looking a bit… ghastly anyway. Dispose of him when I've finished."

"As you wish, my liege." The squatty man bowed deeply and backed away, leaving Tobias to himself. Riddick watched as Tobias reached into the neck of his robe and removed a little golden talisman on a chain, which strangely enough resembled the mouthpiece of a hookah tube. Tobias pulled a thick cord loose from the monitor and placed the talisman on the end, then put it to his lips and began to draw on it. He took a large drag and Riddick watched as the tube began to glow.

It _was_ the mouthpiece of a hookah tube, and the tube was connected to this poor man's brain! Jonas made a noise behind the console, probably coming to the same realization as Riddick, and Tobias lifted his head. Content that he was hearing things he went back to siphoning from the poor man in the chair. The man twitched a little, and the monitor showed in repetition the child being shot in the chest by some sort of energy weapon. Tobias was teetering a little like he was drunk. Riddick put it together then: he _was_ drunk. He was sucking up the man's misery, getting high on his pain and suffering. These living corpses were kept in a constant state of depression and terror so that Tobias and his lady fair could come and get a fix of fear whenever they wanted. The realization made Riddick's heart skip its rhythm, as he knew Kyra was in among these poor souls. Suddenly the man in the chair began to convulse violently, and his readings on the monitor went erratic before they flatlined. Tobias removed the talisman from the end of the tube, replacing it inside his shirt, and yelled for the squatty man.

"Geom! Geom, come at once. This one is failing." He reconnected the tube to the monitor as the little fat man came scurrying along. Riddick got a good look at Tobias' eyes and they were as dilated as any hype's he'd ever seen. The little fat man grimaced.

"Oh well, he lasted longer than I thought he would." The little man, Geom, yanked all the lines and cords out of the man's head, pulling little bits of gray matter with them, and turned off the monitor. The man's convulsions had tapered off into twitches every few seconds. Death throes. Tobias straightened his robes, obviously trying to regain his composure from his inebriated state, and addressed Geom.

"Inform Sariah and I when the new one is ready. I have a ball to get back to." With that he strode off and slammed the door on the opposite wall. Geom stayed for a moment, muttering to himself and looking around, then followed the way of his master.

Jonas stood from his hiding place after a moment and Riddick stepped out from the shadows. Jonas' face was about ten shades paler than it had been and he looked positively sick.

"He's a monster," Jonas whispered to no one in particular. He was rapt as he walked up to the dead man in the chair. "He's got to be stopped." He turned and looked at Riddick.

"First thing's first… we find Kyra."


	18. Seeing and Believing

Hellody! This is the beginning of the end, my friends. And what a trip it's been, huh? As always I want to thank all those who've stuck with me through all this nonsense. Bless you all for your patience. I'm getting all teary eyed, I better get on with it.

As always, REVIEW PLEASE! If you do nothing else today, review for me! Ok, maybe not, but review anyway, it's like my air. ;o)

Disclaimer:oP that's all I have to say.

* * *

"I found her!" Riddick called out so that Jonas could call off the search. It took a while but finally Riddick found Kyra among the tortured remains that had once been functioning human beings. She was pale, but she still looked strong. Her vitals were good, but her brainwaves were more erratic than they should be. Out of sheer morbid curiosity Riddick pushed the green button and then the blue one on the monitor like he'd seen Geom do so he could see what she was seeing. 

"How is she?" Jonas asked as he trotted up, but he received no answer. The look on Riddick's face was staggered and Jonas followed the other man's eyes to the monitor and instantly understood why.

It was _him_ inside her head. He was walking toward a door with Kyra in tow. No, it was Jack. She was twelve again with her head still shaved. Riddick felt something rise up in him then, something familiar. She still had that gleam of youth in her eyes, he noticed. Gumption. He missed that. When he looked there nowadays, all he saw was anger and angst. Occasionally he saw passion, but he could count those times on one hand.

On the screen she jumped in front of him suddenly, blocking the door. Imam was following her, trying to stop her and keep her out of the way. She ignored Imam (as usual) and continued pleading with Riddick. Her eyes were so young and hurt. Riddick remembered this scene now. He'd meant to be gone before she woke up but he'd lost track of time debating whether or not to actually go. He bent down to whisper something in her ear and instead of the joy and relief that should have spread across her face, it went stark and her eyes opened big as teacups. The rest of the illusion fell away and he watched himself in horror as his face twisted into something hideous. He read his own lips, missing a word here and there but getting the gist of what was said.

"_You …me, I hate you. I'm leaving because of you and …never be back for you. Ever." _

Riddick's jaw clenched. This isn't what happened. That's not what he'd said. The look on her face nearly tore his heart out. She was utterly crushed. On the screen he shoved her roughly to the floor, said something else that Riddick didn't catch and then spit on her before walking through the door. She slumped, broken. Like she'd been beaten into submission with his words. She was giving up.

"No. NO! Goddamnit Jack fight. Fight!" His rage took him over swiftly and nearly blinded him to everything around them, "I have to get her out of here, now!" He reached to rip out the cords attached to her monitor.

"Wait! Don't!" Jonas yelled, "You don't know what that will do! Do you want to kill her?" His words made Riddick halt reluctantly. Jonas saw the anguish in the other man's eyes, the turmoil held in the luminous mercurial pools. It was killing him that she was enduring this after everything else they'd been through, but he knew Jonas was right. Riddick lowered his hand from the wires.

"I'll go find fugly and we'll make him take her off the right way. You stay with her, okay?"

Riddick nodded slowly and Jonas left to go find Geom.

* * *

_"I hate you. You're fucking pathetic. I hate you. I hope you die. I hate you…"_

She was trapped in the dark with Riddick's words echoing around her like a mantra of misery. She could face the monsters from her past, and even the monsters from that fucked up planet, but not this. Not Riddick wishing her dead. Not him saying he hated her. Not over and over and over.

She had resigned herself to the fact that she was in hell. She had died and gone to hell. There was no other explanation for her being forced to endure the only man she ever loved telling her he hated her and wanted her to die. She'd cried until she couldn't cry anymore. She'd yelled until her throat was hoarse. It did no good. This was hell and Richard Riddick was the fucking devil, just like everyone had told her all along. She was broken, beaten, and defeated... for him. All because of him. An anger rose in her, an anger for him.

"Is this what you wanted! Fucking bastard! Are you happy now!" she yelled out. She heard only her own voice in response and the continuous echo of his words. She sobbed again, knowing that her anger was false. She wasn't angry with him, she as angry at herself for caring so much for him. If she didn't care, it wouldn't matter what he said. But because it was Riddick, because it was _him, _his words ripped through her like a hundred thousand shards of glass. She slumped back down and held her face in her hands, hoping to open her eyes next and find everything back to normal.

* * *

While he waited for Jonas, Riddick had settled himself beside Kyra's chair on the floor, positioned so that he could see both her face and the monitor at the same time. He'd tried shaking her and yelling at her, but got no response, so he settled for just sitting and watching. Her face was deceptively peaceful, the traces of makeup she'd been wearing at the party still in perfect place, as though the body had no knowledge of the suffering within the mind. He watched the screen in stone-silent agony as she sat limply like a broken doll, face in hands, tears streaming between her fingers. She'd yelled something, then gone back to crying again. He couldn't shift his eyes from her form on the screen, and for the first time in his abominable existence he felt completely, utterly helpless. 

Self-loathing began to fill him. This was entirely his fault, after all. If he'd never gone back for her in New Mecca, if he'd just stayed away like he'd known he should have, they wouldn't be in this mess. She would still be safe and he would still be strong. But he was weak, and it was killing the only woman in the whole damned universe that he cared for at all. He reached up and slipped his large hand into her smaller one, almost recoiling at the coldness he found there. He suddenly felt an overwhelming exhaustion. Wearily, he rested his head against her leg and closed his eyes, noting the true softness of the silk of her dress, how suiting it was for her.

No sooner had he done so than he heard Jonas' voice booming angrily through the door that Tobias and Geom had left through. He looked over just in time to see Geom hurled through the door with Jonas storming after him.

"You sniveling little piece of shit! Fucking monster! How dare you try and fight me!" he roared at the man with more vehemence than Riddick had ever heard from him. Geom was cowering on the floor before him in terror. Jonas grabbed the man up off the floor, receiving a terrified whimper as he dragged Geom by his collar over to Kyra's chair and deposited him next to Riddick's feet. Riddick stood and glared down at the fat little man, then looked to Jonas in mild awe.

"This fucker thought he had a chance against me. Of all the shit!" Jonas said with a sneer as he nudged the man roughly with his boot. Jonas had done a number on him, that was for damn sure. Blood trickled from Geom's nose and oozed from his lip, some of which stained Jonas' gray tunic. Geom held his side like perhaps he had a broken rib or two. He looked up at Riddick pleadingly.

"P-please, please don't let him hurt me anymore. I'll do whatever you ask just don't hurt me. Have mercy on an old man."

"MERCY! HA!" Jonas howled, and Riddick let out a dark laugh.

"You're god damn right you'll do whatever I ask," Riddick lifted the man from the floor by the front of his tunic and pulled him close to his face, "I'll gut you if you don't, and if you live through the pain, I'll hang you from the ceiling by your own entrails. Mercy is one thing I _don't_ have." Geom's eyes grew wide. He realized then that he was trapped in a room with two very scary men, and his life was truly in his own hands. Riddick put Geom down back down on the floor and looked to Jonas.

"I can take care of this, why don't you go find your woman." Riddick's tone was that of suggestion, but Jonas knew it was more of a command. He had his own revenge to dole out, and it was something he had to do himself. Jonas held out his arm, and, after a moment, Riddick clasped it. The two men locked eyes and nodded with mutual respect, knowing if they both made it out of this alive, they would truly be permanent comrades. Jonas went to walk away, but Riddick called after him.

"Jonas!" Jonas turned to look at him again.

"What?"

"Take this, you'll need it." Riddick tossed his mini-shiv to Jonas, and, surprisingly enough, Jonas caught it by the handle. He nodded to the other man and walked through the door at the other side of the room.

Riddick watched Jonas go, wondering absently if he would ever see him again, and then turned his attention back to the stubby fat man before him who was still cowering on the floor.

"Now, you get her off this fucking thing." Riddick growled.

"I-I can't. T-the p-process was never m-meant to be reversed and-" Geom stuttered, thinking that perhaps he would piss his pants for the first time since he was about seven years old. Riddick seized the man's throat, having to hold himself back from simply crushing his windpipe. 'If you do that, we'll never get her back,' he reasoned to himself.

"Wrong answer. TAKE HER OFF!" Geom began to turn purple before he choked out the right answer.

"_Ach_…alright." Riddick dropped him and he rubbed at his throat before speaking again, "You should know that even if I succeed at removing the connections, there's a good chance she won't ever wake up. I've never done this before, I don't know if, or how, she will come out of it."

"And you should know that if I see her vitals drop by even a point, I promise you'll beg me to kill you by the time I'm done." Geom swallowed hard then set about his task with shaking hands. Riddick watched the monitor closely as Geom pushed buttons and carefully pulled out wires until the very last one came out and the monitor went black. There were going to be little scars on her scalp where the wires and tube had been, but Riddick could live with that, as long as she was okay.

"There, now if she dies, it's not my fault," Geom disclaimed. As the man turned, the last thing he saw was Riddick's face as he grabbed the man's chin and the back of his head and jerked, relishing the _snaps _and _cracks _as his neck broke. Riddick only killed for two reasons; 1) self defense, or 2) if the fucker absolutely deserved it. Geom fit into category 2, as far as Riddick was concerned. He turned away from the corpse and sat Kyra back, supporting her diminutive weight with one arm and checked her pulse; still steady.

"Kyra?" No response. "Kyra!" Still nothing. He pulled one eyelid up to check her pupil but her eyes were rolled back into her head still. He started to wonder if what Geom had said was true. Would she ever wake? If she did, would she be the same? He had to get her somewhere safe before Jonas' shit hit the fan, that part he knew. He scooped her up and headed back out the way he'd come, hoping he could find his way back through the labyrinth of hallways he'd come from.

* * *

As Jonas wandered up the steep stairs that door number two had lead to, he wondered absently if he should bother saving these people, or if he should just leave and never look back. Should he just leave him to their fate? After all, were they really _his _people? Sure he'd grown up here, but they would have probably killed him if they'd ever found out what he _really_ was. Why the hell should he risk his neck against something this evil just for them? He paused in the stairway and thought for a moment. 

He knew there was really only one simple answer. Sariah. She was meant for better than this. She was meant for _him, _damnit. And if there was any chance that he could get her back… That's why he was going to risk his neck against evil. Saving the rest of them was a bonus. Perhaps his ends were selfish, but he didn't really care anymore. He came to a door at the end of the stairway and he took a deep breath before opening it. 'Here goes nothing,' he thought mockingly.

He opened the door to find himself in a bedroom. It was just as elaborately decorated as the rest of the house, and it shocked Jonas for a moment, as he was used to the plain, grim stone of the "dungeon". He looked around, figuring he must be in Tobias' private chambers. A door leading to such atrocities would be well hidden from the casual guest. Carefully he closed the door, noting that the seam blended almost invisibly with the rest of the wall. Though the room was spattered generously with gold, the general theme was rather macabre. Paintings of various gruesome deaths (including burning, filleting and other such mutilations) were hung all about the large room, making Jonas cringe involuntarily. Cautiously he walked through the room to the door on the other side and opened it slowly, looking to each side to ensure he was the only one there. He stepped into the sitting room and shut the door slowly behind him.

"Hello Jonas. Long time no see." He froze. Even her voice was different now. It was hollow and held an almost metallic ring that was a far cry from the voice he remembered. He turned to see the deadened violet-blue eyes of his former best friend staring at him from the settee in the center of the room. He offhandedly wondered how he'd missed her, or where she'd come from without him hearing, but that wasn't the important part right now.

"Sariah." Her name escaped his lips like his dying breath in Toombs' mansion. He stepped back a little as she rose from the settee in one fluid motion. Even the burgundy fabric of her dress moved preternaturally.

"You have no reason to fear me, Jonas. I'm not mad at you anymore." She strode easily to him, circling him slowly like a vulture. It was probably all in his head, but he could swear that he actually felt a chill emanating from her, almost like being next to dry ice.

"Why?" he asked, a little ashamed at the trace of fear his voice betrayed. He swallowed it.

"I see your vocabulary has grown in the eight years since I saw you last," she chuckled darkly, sardonically, "I have bigger things to worry about now, Jonas, why would I be mad at you still? I'm about to be the wife of the High Lord, after all. I haven't time for such… petty things now."

"That's not what I meant, and you know it." He started to feel like he was speaking to the _real_ her again. She always did know how to push his buttons and piss him off. What else are friends for?

"Hmm. Perhaps you mean why did I choose the girl instead of you or the one called Riddick? Your mental structure is too different Jonas; the procedure wouldn't work on you, and we would have been hard pressed to subdue the other man. Besides, she's so ripe with pain, we hardly had to prompt her at all." A wide grin spread across her face, and her last comment was light, almost joyous.

"Still not what I meant," Jonas muttered through clenched teeth.

"Ahh, you mean why did I choose this path? The path of the Magess?" Jonas gasped.

'That's it,' he thought, 'she's a fucking Magess!' He remembered stories about half dead magicians and the powers they possessed, the pain they inflicted upon the innocent. They weren't real though, were they? She walked past him, a scent of lilies and death following her, and sat back on the settee, motioning for him to sit with her. He declined her offer and she only shrugged.

"When you left Jonas, a part of me died. You were the only one in this whole damned place I cared for, and you left me here to rot after the awful things that happened. I-"

"I had to try and find my mother!" Jonas interrupted, forgetting for a moment _what_ _exactly _he was addressing, "I had no choice!" Sariah's eyes and tone darkened.

"Neither did I," she stood again, coming to stand closer to him than he was entirely comfortable with, but he stayed still, "For three years I tried to go on without you, but I found myself in pain no matter what I did. I tried to go to school; I couldn't focus on anything by my suffering. I thought I was dying, Jonas," she looked up at him with a piteous expression and though he knew it was false, Jonas still felt his heart being pulled to her, "Tobias saved me. He showed me the beauty that can come from the pain, even if it's the pain of others," she raised a hand and touched Jonas' cheek lightly, her eyes beseeching him, "I can show you too, if you'll let me. Let me show you the way, Jonas."


	19. Some Die, Some Come Back

Helllloooooooooo! I'm in a really good mood because I finally got this bad boy up! It's been eating away at my insides for WEEKS and FINALLY I got it posted! Pat on the back Yeah, this is it folks, the last chapter. I'm thinking about doing a well written (smutty) epilogue, since there hasn't been much in this story. Stay tuned. As always, thanks OODLES to my reviewers, much love! Keep it up! Without further ado...

Disclaimer: If you haven't figured it out by now, then you don't need to.

* * *

"Show me the way?" Jonas asked almost indignantly, making Sariah's eyes narrow frigidly, "The way to what Sariah? To hell, because that's what you're living. This is hell and you and Tobias are the fucking devil!" He yelled at her. He wanted to shake her, scream at her, snap her back to the way she was before she'd left. Had he not a healthy fear of the thing she'd become, he would have. 

'Puss,' he scolded himself.

"No, Jonas," she growled through bared clenched teeth, "The way to numb. That's why I chose this, because I'm numb. That's why we feed on the pain of others, because we cannot feel it ourselves."

Everything became surreal for Jonas thenand for about .2 seconds he actually considered Sariah's offer. He would be free from the past that tormented him, embraced by the woman he'd pined over for years. He felt light headed and flushed at the thought. Then his logic took over and reassured him that the woman he loved died the moment she'd made her choice to become the half-dead _thing_ in front of him. There was no way to stop her or Tobias, no way short of killing them. He looked into her wicked cold eyes and it became clear what he must do.

It was one swift movement. She never even saw him reach, but there it was when she looked down. Riddick's mini shiv was embedded in her chest with a dark pool beginning to spread in the burgundy silk of her dress. Her eyes widened as she looked down, then back up to Jonas. Her mouth dropped and her breath hitched as the realization of what just happened hit her like a heavy freighter. Jonas caught Sariah as her knees buckled and he tenderly brought her to lie on the floor in front of him, holding her in his lap. There were tears welling in her eyes as she looked to him for an answer.

"J-Jonas, Jonas h-how could…" She barely had the breath to begin the sentence, let alone finish it. Jonas shushed her and brushed a stray lock of hair away from her face. In that moment her eyes cleared and he saw the real Sariah again, the woman he'd left here. The woman he loved. He couldn't speak it but his eyes conveyed his amorous sorrow. He bent down and kissed her forehead gently before her last breath escaped her lips and her life, what little there was left of it, was gone.

Jonas' moment of satisfaction was suddenly and violently overshadowed by a tremendous rage. This was all Tobias' fault. If it weren't for him everything, the town, the people, and most importantly Sariah, would be okay, normal. Tobias was the cause, the catalyst for the end of Jonas' world. He had to pay. He had to die. Terribly, brutally.

Jonas closed Sariah's eyes and removed the shiv gently from her chest. She looked at peace now, but it was little consolation for Jonas. His fury was doubling with every passing second and it was that fury which propelled him out of the chamber and back down to the ballroom. He received many a strange look when he entered, but no one dared say a word to a man with that much resolve in his eyes. Hushed whispers and murmurs followed as he made his way to the stage and stopped the musicians joyous playing, making them back down with one simple glare when they started to protest.

"Tobias!" Jonas called over the crowd, "Tobias come face me! Fucking monster!" One by one the partygoers turned to look at him in wonder that this man would refer to their High Lord in such a fashion. "You're all being deceived by your High Lord!" There were gasps in the crowd, and finally Jonas had everyone's undivided attention. "He's a monster and he must be stopped!"

"What _are_ you talking about Jonas?" Tobias' voice came booming from behind Jonas and he whirled around to face the other man, blood stained shiv at the ready.

"You're a monster, Tobias. You've ruined everything, even Sariah." Jonas' rage nearly blinded him, all he could see was the other man standing arrogantly in front of him. Tobias' eyes lit up and a smile spread across his face like the smile of a cruel child with matches and various small animals.

"So is that why you laid her low, Jonas? Because you never got a turn with her before she chose me?" Jonas' eyes went wide at the comment.

He heard the screams from the crowd behind him as he went for Tobias with the shiv. His anger at that moment made him act foolishly, his anger made him forget exactly _what_ he was facing. Tobias raised one hand with fist clenched and an invisible force formed around Jonas' neck, holding him back from the other man. 'At least it's not Riddick for once,' Jonas thought morbidly. Tobias turned and addressed the crowd, dragging Jonas in tow with feet flailing and hands grasping feebly at his neck.

"Do any of you remember this man? This is Jonas Salazar, he grew up here, went to school here, had friends and family here. Then came the massacre, and what did he do? He ran away! This coward ran away and left _us_ to rebuild. Now he has come back to destroy our Peace, and brought with him the very man the mercs were looking for on that bloody day so long ago." There were gasps and shrieks from those left in the crowd who had not run away. Tobias dropped Jonas to the stage. "What do you have to say for yourself now Jonas?" Jonas coughed and sputtered for a moment before he could answer.

"You're a bastard, Tobias!" Jonas yelled as he stood.

"The High Lord has brought us a peace that we could never have imagined before! How dare you speak to him so," came a man's voice from the crowd. Jonas turned to face them.

"But at what price? You live in fear of him! I've found the ones who disappear!" More gasps and murmurs could be heard from the people and Jonas looked to Tobias to see a look of fury cross his ever-stoic face. He held Tobias' darkened eyes, nonetheless, "There's a room beneath this place, a room of horrors beyond compare. Your loved ones are there hooked to machines that cause constant terror in the mind. Their bodies are rotting, and their minds are twisted so that HE can feed on their pain! HE-" Jonas was cut off by the return of the force around his throat, crushing off his air.

"That's enough, Jonas." Tobias growled viciously. Once again Tobias addressed the crowd, who apparently believed Jonas, since they were moving steadily toward him with all the menacing that an angry mob _should_ have.

"You would believe this coward over me? This freak? He's a Changeling! He cannot be trusted!" The crowd stopped and everyone looked at eachother. "That's right, he's a Changeling, a freak of nature. Watch for yourselves." Tobias forced Jonas face down on the stage and walked over to stand beside him. He planted one foot on Jonas' back and grabbed his left arm with both hands, twisting and bending it until Jonas screamed. He bent it just a little further, and just when bones would have broken, Jonas softened his structure out of self-preservation instinct and made the limb bend unnaturally. The crowd screamed and a stampede ensued, leaving the two men alone in the ballroom.

"You see Jonas, they're all terrified of you. Even if you manage to kill me, they will surely kill you. They're sheep, they'll follow me to the grave if I so choose." Tobias laughed wickedly, letting down his guard just enough for Jonas to soften up the rest of the way and slip out of his grasp. The two men faced eachother, en garde. The games were over now, both of them knew it, and only one, if either, would walk out alive.

Tobias raised his hand again, and once again there was a force crushing Jonas' throat. It was tighter than before, now Tobias really was trying to kill him. Jonas grabbed at his throat, he even tried softening his neck structure for relief but there was none. Tobias moved his hand, and Jonas flew off the stage and against the opposite wall with enough force to crush the back of a normal man's skull. Jonas groaned and fell to the floor with a muffled _thud, _coughing violently. Before he had a chance to recover, Tobias had him again, dangling him far above the floor. He released the force, whatever it was, and Jonas fell again, breaking his legs when he tried to catch himself.

"Raaaargh!" Jonas screamed from the instant pain, but managed to get his bones at least half way knitted before Tobias got a hold of him again. Tobias pulled Jonas to him slowly, strangling the man without even laying a hand on him.

"How does it feel, Jonas? How does if feel to know that everything you love is dead? How does it feel to know that you'll soon join your mother and your precious Sariah?"

The two men locked eyes, and the arrogant smile that Tobias wore faded as he felt something sharp enter his lower abdomen to the left. He looked down to find Jonas' hand wrapped around a shiv handle that was stuck there in his gut just above his hip. The shock of it made him lose his hold on Jonas' neck for a moment, and that was all it took.

With all the strength Jonas had left, all the animosity and rage he'd been holding, he wrenched the shiv up and across Tobias' stomach, all the way to his ribs on the opposite side. The blood poured from the wound instantly, and Tobias' eyes went wide as he looked down yet again to find bits of his insides on the outside, and Jonas' blood soaked fist coming up to meet his face in a hard uppercut. Tobias flew backward, landing hard on the stage behind him, the weight and power behind the landing disemboweling him further. Jonas stood over Tobias and watched with great pleasure as the other man's eyes bugged out and he gurgled before finally drowning in his own blood. He felt as though a weight was lifted then, a great pressure had been released, and he dropped to his knees in the blood surrounding his feet. It was over.

'Now what?' he thought to himself.

'Now we go find your friends.'

* * *

Riddick had heard the yelling coming from the ballroom, but did not care. His only worry now was getting the limp and frail body he carried to safety and keeping her that way until she woke. If she woke. Somehow, Riddick had found an empty chamber and laid the fragile woman that he carried in the bed, making her as comfortable as he hoped he could. He sat himself beside the door across the room and waited, patiently watching for any sign of her consciousness. Doubts bounced around in his head like racquetballs.What if Geom was right? What if she never woke up? She had to wake up, he couldn't lose her again. Not forever, at least. Not after what he'd done to her inside her mind. He knew it hadn't really been him, but it was the principal of the matter. 

The silence of the room was oppressive, the only sound being her soft breathing and his, and that didn't help to ease his thoughts any. For the first time ever, Richard Riddick actually considered praying. Praying to any God that would listen. Praying that she would wake, praying that she would be okay. He considered, but couldn't bring himself to do it. Maybe the consideration would be enough.

He heard footsteps then, and a voice calling for him from down the hall. The sound of doors opening and shutting, one at a time until the one he was crouched beside opened and Jonas stepped warily in.

"Good, I found you! It's all over, they're both dead. I-" Jonas noticed that he was being ignored and followed Riddick's gaze to the bed where he saw Kyra lying, "Is she…?"

"No, she's not dead." Riddick replied softly, still not taking his eyes off her. Jonas was silent for a moment.

"Riddick, what if she…?" He didn't want to finish the question, but it _was_ a realistic one. Riddick looked up at the other man and for the first time ever Jonas saw fear in his eyes, completely uninhibited fear. He was absolutely terrified of losing her.

"I'm gunna go do crowd control, I'm 'relatively positive' we're not in danger anymore, will you be okay?" Jonas asked carefully.

"Are you okay?" Riddick asked, eyeing the blood all over Jonas' clothes and the marks he knew would become deep bruises later on.

"Yeah, I think I am," Jonas replied softly. Riddick nodded and Jonas left, shutting the door softly behind him.

Once again, he felt the overwhelming exhaustion that he'd felt in the 'dungeon' when he sat beside Kyra's chair. The heavy feeling of his limbs was tremendous. He stood wearily and walked to the bed where Kyra lay and crawled in beside her, pondering absently whether she would wake up happy or not with him next to her. Her face was the last thing he saw before he passed out.

* * *

Kyra slowly became aware of the feeling of warmth spreading through her limbs, and no sooner had she realized that than she also realized that Riddick's voice was gone. She'd been sitting there, huddled in a tight little ball for so long she'd totally lost track of her surroundings. Slowly she looked up. She was in a well-lit, golden toned hallway. Not just any hallway, but a very familiar one. She stood, looking around bewildered. She heard a sound like a child's laughter coming from somewhere down the hall and though she was still in awe at her sudden change in scenery she felt compelled to follow the sound, drawn to it. 

She wandered slowly down the winding halls until she turned a corner and stopped in her tracks. Standing before her in a perfectly white dress with tiny golden adornments was herself as a small girl. Her bright green eyes danced with innocence and her small mouth curled up into a smile. The little girl crooked one finger, inviting Kyra down to her level. Kyra obliged and bent down, and the little girl cupped Kyra's ear as if to tell her a secret.

"He's waiting for you," the little girl whispered matter-of-factly, "Right inside that door." Kyra stood back up.

"Who?" Kyra knew it was a dumb question, but she asked it anyway. The little girl giggled and her eyes glittered.

"_Him, _of course. Who else would it be?" the little girl took Kyra's hand and went to lead her further down the hall, but Kyra stood her ground. The little girl looked up at her questioningly.

"He hates me." Kyra looked down at the floor.

"That wasn't real, silly. He's waiting for you, c'mon." The little girl pulled harder and managed to get Kyra to step forward. They walked to the edge of a doorway, and the girl let go of Kyra's hand and urged her to look into the door. Kyra looked in and saw nothing. There was no floor, no walls, just nothing. This was too familiar. Kyra turned back to the girl.

"Look closer," the little girl urged, so Kyra did. She looked into the room again and saw herself stuck in some contraption, hooked to all sorts of wires. Sitting beside her on the floor was Riddick. He was holding her hand and resting against her leg. He looked so sad, almost grief-stricken. Suddenly the image changed. It was still the two of them, but she was lying on a bed, and Riddick was there beside her, curled protectively around her as they slept. The vision was almost enough to make her cry. She looked back at the little girl.

"Do you see?" the little girl's eyes glinted knowingly, and it dawned on her then. There was no need for this shell she'd developed anymore. Her protective skin was only seperating them. She didn't need protecting from him; he wasn't here to hurt her, he never had been. She didn't need to be afraid. She didn't… she didn't need Kyra anymore. She looked again, but the little girl was gone. She looked back into the room and stared at the vision before her. Love. That was the only word that came to mind. Love. She loved him. It had started when she was young, when she'd admired him so, but it had evolved into something… else. Something better. She loved him, and, as it had always been, he loved her as well. But there could never be anything between them if she kept up her defenses and kept her pain at the surface. Suddenly the vision disappeared and was replaced by a huge pool of water. She heard the whispers of the little girl.

"Wash her away, you don't need her anymore, shed her."

She jumped.

* * *

Riddick jolted awake, a feeling he'd never anticipated making him bolt upright. Kyra was convulsing. Her whole body was trembling violently, tensing. She was seizing. Her body was rigidly shaking. Quickly he turned her on her side as her body moved erratically. 

"Kyra, Kyra! Easy, shhh-" he tried to soothe her to no avail. Suddenly, she stopped. She went limp. 'Oh no, no no no.' He rolled her back over to her back, her head lulling; no reflexes. He propped himself up on one elbow, taking her chin in his other hand to look at her face. He picked up her eyelids and found the disturbing sight of her pupils as big around as coins. He checked her pulse; nothing.

"Kyra… K-Kyra," his voice faltered and he felt the unfamiliar sting of tears filling his eyes. He hadn't noticed it before, but now that it was gone, he knew she had a light in her. A light that could have saved him. She was gone; he'd lost her again. Forever. She was just… gone. One tear dared to slip forth, dripping quickly down and onto her shoulder. He laid his head down on her chest, hoping beyond all just to hear her heart beat once. Nothing.

Then... something. One thump, and another.

Suddenly she sucked in a sharp breath, and once again Riddick found himself bolt upright. He checked her pulse again; it was steady, rapid but steady. She sucked in breath after breath, her hands flailing a little. He grabbed one of her hands to let her know he was there, as if she didn't already.

She'd smelled him before she'd ever come too, that's what brought her back. Knowing he was there waiting for her. She opened her eyes and looked at him, touching her other hand to his face. Her breathing evened out slowly and she turned to face him.There was a joy radiating from the silver pools she was staring into that it almost stole her breath again.

"Are you with me Kyra?" Riddick asked with voice shaking a little. He couldn't take his eyes off her. She smiled wide.

"The name's Jack. Jack B. Badd."

* * *

Alrighty, there it is. The last chap. Too fast at the end? Maybe, I just kinda wanted to get it out. Like I said, I'm considering doing an epilogue to finish things off right.Thank youSOOOOO Much to everyone who's stuck with me.I hadn't the slightest idea where this was going at first, but here it is. Now, REVIEW PLEASE! See ya on the flip! ;o)


	20. Old Habits and New Beginnings

Hidey ho! Alrighty folks, this is it. The end. Period. You noticed the 'complete' thingy on the description, right? That means it's D-U-N… DONE! However, I have left plenty of room for a sequel, and I'll get around to that some time. Anyhoo, as usual, muchos gracias, danka, merci, gratzi and thank you in a whole slew of other languages I don't know to every one of my reviewers, faithful or only one timers, THANK YOU ALL! 

**Disclaimer: See previous chapters :oP**

* * *

Riddick stood beside the newly repaired _Gash_, leaning against the cold metal hull and waiting patiently for Jack to hurry the hell up. He had hoped to be able to stay longer than two weeks, but when Jonas had told him that Soli received a hail from a merc ship requesting permission to dock in only a day, he decided they'd better go. Jonas opted to stay behind and help his hometown rebuild their government (yet again) … the right way. He denied the offer from the powers that be in Ramistad to replace Tobias as High Lord, reasoning that the job was entirely too big for only one man, and recommended that instead a council be reinstated. However he did accept the office of political liaison between the Capitol and the Lazarus Council. Jonas and Jack had been talking for nearly ten minutes in hushed tones that even Riddick's ears couldn't quite pick up.

Riddick couldn't help but smile when he looked at her. She was different now, the way she spoke, the way she walked. Even her stance was different; her back was straighter and she leaned back ever so slightly with her weight mostly on one leg. His Jack was back.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us Jonas?"

"Naw, they need me here. The more I think about it the more I think Sariah might have been right, I did run away eight years ago. I can't do it again. Besides, you and Riddick need your time to sort… uh, things… out." His last comment made Jack glance at the convict in question and Jonas saw a familiar doubt flit across her face. "You're not Kyra anymore, just talk to him. What could it hurt?"

"Jonas, it could hurt a lot," he looked at her sternly, "Alright, maybe. Anyway, best of luck, and if you need us…"

"Likewise." Jack held out her hand and Jonas clasped it, wincing a little at her grip. 'Some things don't change, I guess,' he thought to himself.

"Are you two done yet? We need to go Jack!" Riddick bellowed from the gangway of the skiff. Jonas and Jack both grinned and ambled over to the skiff. Jack climbed aboard and Jonas and Riddick nodded a mutual respect. An understanding. They closed the doors and Riddick and Jack took their proper seats and soon after were cleared to take off.

"Good luck, stay in touch huh?" Jonas piped over the horn. A mechanized voice gave them the go ahead and they were off. Jack glanced out the window after they cleared the atmosphere, knowing deep down she was leaving something behind, and that was okay.

"So where are we going?" she asked softly after a moment, still staring out the window.

"I don't know, maybe we'll hit the Alderon system or something, find and nice place to… sit, for a while." His thoughts were leaning toward 'settle down', but he wouldn't come out and say it.

A while went by where nothing was said between the two of them. Each was lost in their own thoughts, mostly thoughts of the other. Suddenly Riddick broke the silence.

"You're my light, ya know." Jack almost didn't catch it. She turned and looked quizzically at the man in the seat next to her, who stared straight out the front window, eyes fixed to something far out in the dark.

"What?" It took him a moment, but he continued.

"My life has been kinda like deep space, so far. A void, mostly black and empty. Most people couldn't handle deep space for very long, definitely not for thirty plus years. But there are these little tiny lights out there that make it bearable. In space there are billions of them," he chuckled a little, "Space is lucky, I've only got one." He looked over at her with those steely diamond eyes and her jaw dropped a little. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Was he saying what she thought he was saying? It almost sounded like the very thing she'd been waiting six years for.

"Say something, Jack." She snapped back from her momentary stupor.

"I… uh, I mean. Shit. Riddick… I… GODDAMMIT I LOVE YOU!" tears began to spring into her eyes, and Riddick went to interrupt but she cut him off, "Just shut up and listen! I've always loved you, even in that cave when Imam didn't know if you would come back or not, _I knew_! I knew because I loved you and I knew somehow I'd melted you a little. Only love could do that!" She was heaving for breath by the time she was done but she had managed to put him in the same sort of stupor that she'd experienced. He was awestruck by her honesty. There was nothing to say.

Instead he stood and pulled her up out of her seat by her shoulders, then moving one hand to either side of her face he staried into her limpid green eyes. Once again emerald clashed with mercury. He searched them and saw no defiance, no anger. Only daring… and love. She did love him. She slid her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a deliciously gentle kiss. He expected his mind to once again scream for him to pull away, but instead it screamed for him to absorb her, to soak her up and never be without her again. Jack. His Jack. He wrapped both powerful arms around her and crushed her to him. Their tongues slid together like silk on silk, dancing, tasting, and savoring the deep flavor of each. She moaned into his mouth, eliciting a deep growl from the powerful man. Heaving and reluctant they broke apart.

"Oh, god Riddick, I want you. I… I want you more than I think I've ever wanted anything ever in my whole life. I-" He shushed her gently, sweeping her up into his arms and carrying her to the back of the skiff. Their eyes met as he laid her on the cot. All she saw within the mercurial pools was love. There was _love_ there. For the first time ever in all her years of knowing him she saw _love_ in Richard B. Riddick's eyes, and that's what brought back Jack.

* * *

Sorry if I got your hopes up about the smut, it just didn't seem to fit. Not horney enough I guess. Anyway, there's the epi, fret not, there will be a sequel and many more stories from me, but for now I think I need a hiatus. Later taters! 


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